Jun 16 2010 12:23AM GMT

Software for Secure Computing: Mozilla Plug-in Check

Ken Harthun Profile: Ken Harthun

Plugins and add-ons, extensions, oh,my! If you use Firefox, chances are you have plenty of these things installed. I counted 15 on my installation. Of course, the plug-in check only checks plug-ins, but it serves to alert you to the possibility that other add-ons need attention.

To check your plug-ins, go to: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/plugincheck/

I’ve checked both my systems at home and sure enough, I was out of date on at least one plug-in on each system.

Having to check several applications using different tools can be tedious, so I still recommend that everyone use Secunia’s Personal Software Inspector.

The Secunia PSI is a free security tool designed to detect vulnerable and out-dated programs and plug-ins which expose your PC to attacks. Attacks exploiting vulnerable programs and plug-ins are rarely blocked by traditional anti-virus and are therefore increasingly “popular” among criminals. I’ve written about this one before and I still recommend it.

Bottom line: whatever tool you use, keep your apps, plug-ins, scripts, whatever up to date.