Firefox 32 feature could cut undetected malware downloads ‘in half’

Firefox 32, which is set to be released in September, aims to further beef up defenses against downloading malware on Windows computers.

The feature works by comparing the verified signature of downloaded application files against a list of known safe publishers, according to a Wednesday post by Sid Stamm, senior manager of security and privacy engineering at Mozilla.

For files identified as unsafe, or malware, Firefox will send some of its metadata to Google's Safe Browsing service to check if the software is secure, according to Stamm.

“In our preliminary testing, we estimate this new malware protection cuts the amount of malware that slips through Firefox's protections in half,” Stamm wrote.

Users not too enthusiastic about sending data to Google can turn off the feature.