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Firefox downloads boosted by new release and Internet Explorer security scare. Mozilla's open source browser experienced a healthy boost in popularity last week on the back of a new release and security concerns about Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

In an interesting twist on browser-based security issues, security researchers said they have found a flaw in which Microsoft's Internet Explorer can cause Mozilla's Firefox to execute remote malicious code. Security firm Secunia released an advisory Tuesday, ranking the flaw as highly critical. The vulnerability is confirmed on Firefox 2.0.0.4 on a fully-patched version of Windows XP SP2.

A noted security researcher disclosed four new zero-day vulnerabilities in Microsoft and Mozilla's browsers, including a critical flaw in Internet Explorer (IE) and a major bug in Firefox.

Mozilla has released Firefox 3.5.1 to fix the recently reported security vulnerability in the Just-in-Time (JIT) JavaScript compiler, an exploit for the Windows version of which is already doing the rounds. Attackers can exploit the vulnerability to inject and execute code on vulnerable systems.

Mozilla has patched a pair of security vulnerabilities in its Firefox Web browser just in time for its release of security tools at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas this week.

Internet browsers Firefox and Opera have experienced a massive surge in downloads since the security flaw in Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) was exposed.

"According to a recent comprehensive Web browser report, Microsoft's Internet Explorer is losing market share to Mozilla Firefox. The overall report shows that IE has dropped below 70 percent. [...] Each month since October, IE has dropped a point while Firefox gained a point..."

Gunter Ollman, Director of Security Strategy at IBM Internet Security Systems has come up with a, frankly, surprising conclusion that as far as the top ten software vendors contributing to vulnerability disclosure statistics are concerned, the trend is actually a downwards one.