Firefox checks downloads for malware through Google’s Safe Browsing

Mozilla has increased the security level in Firefox 48 with protection against downloads that contain potentially malicious code. The browser uses Google’s Safe Browsing service for this.

Until now, Firefox protected against malicious websites via the same service from Google, but not yet against downloadable files. The current version of Firefox, number 48, already protects against downloading malware. The next version, due in September, will protect Windows from even more potentially dangerous downloads by comparing file signatures against a list of known, safe publishers.

Sid Stamm explains how the feature works on the Firefox blog. If the file is signed, Firefox first compares the file with a list of known, safe publishers. If a file is not known to Firefox’s list, i.e. where the file should be listed as safe or malware, it sends some of the download’s metadata to Google’s Safe Browsing service where it is compared to Safe Browsing registered files. threats. In most cases, the browser will not contact Safe Browsing because most of the well-known software for Windows is signed by well-known publishers.

The first tests with the system seem to show that the amount of malware that may slip through the cracks is halved. Users who do not feel like using the service can turn it off in the settings.