Mozilla plugs a cross-browser plugin checker

WEB BROWSER OUTFIT Mozilla has enhanced its Firefox plugin checker to encompass other browsers and beef up security.

Jonathan Nightingale, director of Firefox development at the Mozzarella Foundation blogged yesterday that outdated plugins are more at risk of malware attacks. The plug-in checker automatically scans and pings out a link where you can update if it finds an older plugin.

Mozilla's enhanced plugin checking service also supports a wide array of competing browsers.

"The team has since expanded plugin check coverage to work with Safari 4, Chrome 4, and Opera 10.5. We have added support for Internet Explorer 7 and 8 for the most popular plugins," Nightingale said.

However, Internet Exploder is more of a pain because it requires specific code, so Nightingale admitted that it will "take us a little longer to get to full coverage."

There's no word on a date to get full support for the Vole's battered Internet Explorer, but Nightingale did plug Mozilla's Plugin Directory that's currently in alpha testing.

"Our Plugin Directory will eventually become the main way we keep our data about plugins up-to-date. If you're a plugin vendor, we need your help! The directory is currently in alpha stages, and we need vendors to let us know as new versions come out," he said. µ