Norton alert after Firefox 4.0 upgrade: plugin-container is untrustworthy and therefore not safe
Next lauch of Firefox after upgrade to 4.0 today resulted in a Norton Anti-Virus alert:
c:\program files\mozilla firefox\plugin-container.exe ____________________________ ____________________________ On computer as of 3/23/2011 at 11:39:51 AM Last Used: 3/23/2011 at 11:39:54 AM Startup Item: No Launched: No ____________________________ ____________________________ Few Users Fewer than 100 users in the Norton Community have used this file. ____________________________ Medium This file risk is medium. ____________________________ Threat Details There are many indications that this file is untrustworthy and therefore not safe ____________________________ Origin
Downloaded from Not Available ____________________________ URL Not Available UNTESTED
Source plugin-container.exe ____________________________ File Thumbprint: Not Available ____________________________
Wšě wotmołwy (6)
The plugin-container.exe file is an integral part of Firefox, assuming you installed firefox from Mozilla this will be a false positive from Nortin.
Found the following posted today on the Norton site. Note that the article title of "Compatability of Norton 360 with Firefox 4.0" should probably be renamed to start with "Incompatibility ..." but that's just an opinion.
It would be nice if the major players would give each other a courtesy "heads-up" before releasing new versions of software that utilizes a "for security reasons we suggest that you upgrade" notice as in the case of Firefox 4.0 today. This should be a shared responsibility but then, it is not yet a perfect world.
http://us.norton.com/support/kb/web_view.jsp?wv_type=public_web&docurl=20100720113635EN&ln=en_US
Compatibility of Norton 360 with Firefox 4.0
We are currently working on an update for the latest version of Norton 360 to fix the compatible issues with Firefox 4.0. This update is planned to be released in early May.
This document will be updated after the patch is released, and will have information on how to obtain the updates.
DOCID: 20100720113635EN Operating System: Windows 7,Windows Vista,Windows XP Last modified: 3/23/11
Thank you for the prompt response. I had to dig on the Norton site to find the posting regarding Firefox 4.0 and you'll probably get many other posts from other users with the same issue.
Mozilla is open source, all of the development versions are available for anybody to use, including the source code.
Mozilla froze the extension APIs 5 months ago giving security vendors plenty of time to update their products to work with Firefox 4.
Knowing now that the extension APIs were frozen 5 months ago, the responsibility shifts to Norton assuming intra-industry notices through SPA and other pathways were sent. Thanks.
Mozilla has even worked with Norton in the past to help them fix their crap when it broke some Firefox 3.6 alphas awhile ago; they should know who to contact if they need help fixing their stuff.
(A very unhappy former Norton user here.)