Today’s topics include Mozilla improving web browser security with the latest Firefox update, and Ping Identity acquiring Elastic Beam for AI-powered API security.
Mozilla announced the release of Firefox 61 on June 26, providing users with new features and patches for 18 security vulnerabilities. Included in the update are improved performance capabilities that build on the speed gains that the Firefox 57 Quantum release boasted in November 2017.
Another new feature in Firefox 61 is Tab Warming, which promises faster response time when switching between tabs, thanks to Firefox preemptively loading tabs as a mouse is hovered over the tab.
Speed is further improved in Firefox 61 with the Parallel CSS Parsing capability. Finally, Mozilla has added default support for the TLS 1.3 web encryption specification, providing improved cryptographic security for data in transit across the web.
APIs, the software that lets applications talk to each other, are becoming increasingly important in this era of cloud and mobile computing, but are also at risk of being compromised. Identity provider Ping Identity plans to release a solution to that problem based on technology from its recent purchase of Elastic Beam, a company that’s been developing an artificial intelligence-powered platform to protect APIs.
Before the acquisition, Elastic Beam had already built a hybrid cloud software solution that used AI and behavior expertise to detect and automatically stop threats that use APIs to gain control of systems and data.
Ping said it will use the new technology in a system that enables businesses to automatically recognize and respond to rapidly changing, dynamic attacks that target API vulnerabilities.