Mozilla Looks To Microsoft For Security!

[waldwolf]

Mozilla looks to Microsoft for Security!

By Joris Evers

Staff Writer, CNET News

Mozilla's new security chief won't say outright whether Firefox is more secure than Internet Explorer.

Window Snyder, formerly of Microsoft, now heads up security at Mozilla, the company best known for its open-source Firefox Web browser. While Microsoft is often criticized over the security of its products, Mozilla is seen in a more favorable light. Yet Firefox and other Mozilla products have their share of security problems.

At Microsoft, Snyder helped formalize the process to secure Windows. She also created an event, dubbed Blue Hat, that brought hackers onto the Microsoft campus to expose flaws in the company's software in front of its creators.

In her new role, Snyder plans to share Mozilla's security secrets with the world, strengthen ties with the security researcher community and rid Mozilla products of old, potentially dangerous, code, she told CNET News in a recent interview.

Q: Is Firefox more secure than Microsoft's Internet Explorer?

A: This gets into how you measure security. I think one of the most important metrics of security is days of risk: How long does it take for a vendor to get a patch out to its customers? Then, once the patch is available, how long does it take to deploy it? I think Mozilla has made the number of days between the time a vulnerability is identified and a patch is available incredibly small, and it is shrinking.

Q: So the answer, in one word: Is Firefox more secure than Internet Explorer?

A: I don't think there is a one-word answer for that question.

Q: You can't say yes or no?

A: You have to look at the days of risk. You have to look at the overall process, how responsive and how transparent the processes are.

........its called "progress".

waldwolf