read, and submit a review. The review should be about 300 words (a full page doc
ID: 3910100 • Letter: R
Question
read, and submit a review.
The review should be about 300 words (a full page document). Please organize and elaborate your points. If you feel you need more than 300 words - you are free to do so (but make sure your points are not off-tangent). You will not get extra points for writing a mini-novel. Your grade is based on how well you synthesize the points in the article (including how you express your opinion, thoughts or understanding).
This dropbox utilizes an originality checker that will detect copied text. In your review, briefly summarize the article, provide things that you learned from the article, and then explain how the article might help you in your cyber security career. Since quality written communication skills are required in all cyber-related vocations, spelling and grammar will be graded in this assignment. Please insure that your review is written according to the highest grammatical standards.
VirusTotal Browser Extension Now Firefox Quantum-Compatible
VirusTotal released an updated VTZilla browser extension this week to offer support for Firefox Quantum, the new and improved Web browser from Mozilla.
The browser extension was designed with a simple goal in mind: allow users to send files to scan by adding an option in the Download window and to submit URLs via an input box.
The VTZilla extension already proved highly popular among users, but version 1.0, which had not received an update since 2012, no longer worked with Mozilla’s browser after Firefox Quantum discontinued support for old extensions.
Starting toward the end of last year, Mozilla required all developers to update their browser extensions to WebExtensions APIs, a new standard in browser extensions, and VirusTotal is now complying with the requirement.
The newly released VTZilla version 2.0 builds on the success of the previous version and brings along increased ease-of-use, more customization options, and transparency.
Once the updated browser extension has been installed, the VirusTotal icon appears in the Firefox Quantum’s toolbar, allowing quick access to various configuration options.
Clicking on the icon enables users to customize how files and URLs are sent to VirusTotal, as well as to choose a level of contribution to the security community they want.
“Users can then navigate as usual. When the extension detects a download it will show a bubble where you can see the upload progress and the links to file or URL reports,” VirusTotal’s Camilo Benito explains.
“These reports will help users to determine if the file or URL in use is safe, allowing them to complement their risk assessment of the resource,” Benito continues.
Previously, only the pertinent URL tied to the file download was scanned, and access to the file report was available only via the URL report and only if VirusTotal servers had been able to download the pertinent file.
VTZilla also allows users to send any other URL or hash to VirusTotal and other features are only one right-click away.
VirusTotal is also determined to improve the extension and add functionality to it and is also open to feedback and suggestions. The Google-owned service can now make the extension compatible with other browsers that support the WebExtensions standard as well.
The extension revamp will soon be followed by VTZilla features that should allow users further help the security industry fight against malware. “Even non-techies will be able to contribute,” Benito says.
Explanation / Answer
Mozilla Firefox is one of the oldest web browsers in the history of browsers and dominated the market of web browsers before Google came up with the Chrome.
Firefox is an open source community that has its reputation for building the world's once most loved and preferred software to access the web. Another unique trait of Mozilla is its capability to add extensions to perform certain tasks such as clipping an article from the web, saving an image, blocking advertisements and pop-ups, and to prevent plagiarism. Extensions can be understood as additional service patches that allow us to get more out of our browser and the websites we are surfing.
Extensions help us explore meanings of foreign words or jargon, make a note of tasks to perform or open another software such as online storage services and drives. Extensions can give a new life to the browser and have now emerged as the de-facto in modern browsers such as Mozilla and Chrome.
Now, it is easy for even a non-technical user to modify the entire browser and change its look and functionality by adding extensions from an in-built marketplace with-in the browser. One of the extensions in Mozilla is VTZilla browser extension by a company named VirusTotal for Firefox Quantum, the latest release of browser from Mozilla.
VTZilla's aim was to scan the files before they were downloaded to the client machine, using a method by which the extension sent the files to be scanned to VirusTotal servers. But it didn't get any update in the original Firefox version, and became incompatible with Firefox Quantum. With the latest release of VTZilla, however, full support on Quantum browser (which is also a latest release from Mozilla) is available.
VTZilla solves one of the many big problems faced by cyber security experts about the authenticity and cleanliness of files and sources the user wishes to download. Such services can eradicate plagiarism, malicious and virus-affected (bugged) content from harming the computers of everyday people.
Now owned by Google, this extension also helps the company keep a track record of all the websites a user has visited, how many of them are suspicious and is also open to suggestions and feedback. VTZilla has saved many computers from crashing or shutting down unexpectedly, and not to forget its protection against fake purchases and stealing of sensitive information.
Related Questions
Navigate
Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.