Firefox 14 Released, Secure Search and Opt-In Plug-in Activation Added

Mozilla has released Firefox 14, the latest stable version of its browser for both PCs and Macs. This release is just behind the heels of Firefox 14 for Android that was launched last month.

In terms of security, Firefox 14 now offers more control over plug-ins with this feature called Click to Play whereby plug-ins are suppressed from loading. Click to Play is disabled by default, when it is enabled, any plug-in which is activated will require explicit permission to load. In order to grant permission, the user must click on the page element attempting to load the plug-in or click on the block-like icon near the address bar to activate it.

The Firefox development team has also enabled HTTPS for Google searches by default. This means that a user's search request will be sent over encrypted SSL for added security, shielding such traffic from network infrastructure that may be gathering data about the users without their knowledge or modifying/censoring their search results.

For more information on the new features of Firefox, do read its release notes here. By default, Firefox is configured to update itself automatically; however, if you have not installed Firefox on your system or you prefer a manual installation of the browser, you can download the latest version here.

(Source: Mozilla)

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