Mozilla Firefox (simply known as Firefox) is an open-source and free browser for net normally developed for Linux, Windows and OS X with an android version for mobile, by the foundation of Mozilla and consequently its subsidiary which is the Mozilla Corporation. Using Gecko layout, Firefox render pages of the web, which then implements both current and anticipated standards.
Of total worldwide usage in Feb. 2014, Firefox had between 12% and 22% thus, according to varied sources, becoming the third most web browser in popularity. Firefox has a count of over 450 million users all over around the world as per the Mozilla statistics. particular success of the browser has been witnessed in Germany, Indonesia, Poland and Iran where it’s popularity as the browser of choice is 41%, 55%, 46% and 43%, of the total share of market respectively.
The project of Firefox has undergone several changes of name since its inception. With Its original title Phoenix, it had to be renamed due to issues of trademark with Phoenix Technologies. The substitute name, Firebird, also provoked a very intense response from the project of Firebird database software. In an immediate response, the foundation of Mozilla announced that the browser would from then hence forth bear the Mozilla Firebird name to avoid any confusion. Due to further pressure, on Feb 9, 2004, what was known as Mozilla Firebird came to be known as Mozilla Firefox. As a foundation, Mozilla has always prefered the Firefox abbreviation Fx or fx, although often it is abbreviated as FF. Before version 1.0 being released on 9 November 2004, the project of Firefox went through many versions.
The Foundation offers a "bug bounty" of up to 3000 USD in cash reward and a colourful Mozilla T-shirt, to any researcher who can discover any possible severe holes of insecurity in Firefox.
Due to having fewer unpatched security vulnerabilities publicly known than Internet Explorer Firefox’s improved security has been often cited as the reason for users to switch from Internet Explorer in preference to Firefox. A US newspaper, The Washington Post once reported that exploit code for critical unpatched security vulnerabilities that is known in Internet Explorer was publicly available for a total of 284 days in the year 2006.
A 2006 Symantec stuady showed that, though Firefox had surpassed alternative browsers within the range of vendor-confirmed vulnerabilities that year through September, these vulnerabilities were patched much more quickly than those found in alternative browsers – Firefox's vulnerabilities were mounted on the average in some unspecified time in the future when the exploit code was made obtainable, as compared to 9 days for net explorer. Symantec later saying their statement, spoken communication that Firefox still had fewer security vulnerabilities than internet explorer, when tallied by security researchers. National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) study in 2010 based on information compiled from the National Vulnerability database (NVD), Firefox was listed as the fifth most vulnerable desktop software system, with internet explorer as the eighth, and Google Chrome as the 1st.