Virtualization everywhere.
After a couple of years that I last tried VMware I just checked back their homepage to
survey their current products. Before anything else, hats off to the developers of
this masterly piece of software! And they even offer pre-packaged images that
can be run with their free (as in free beer) VMware Player. One of those caught
my eye: the ``Browser Appliance''.
From
their description:
The Browser Appliance is a free virtual machine that allows users to securely browse the Internet using Mozilla Firefox. Run the Browser Appliance with VMware Player to:
- Protect Against Adware and Spyware: Users protect their PCs against adware, spyware and other malware while browsing the Internet with Firefox in a virtual machine. The Browser Appliance leverages virtual machine isolation capabilities to prevent malware downloaded in the browser from propagating to the normal desktop.
- Safeguard Personal Information: The Browser Appliance can be configured to automatically reset itself after each use so personal information is never stored permanently.
``Hm ... '', you hear me mumble. I am very much aware of the need for software security -- especially when it is inherently exposed to the wild in such a way as browsers are. Browsers of all kinds have a long trail of security patches that need to be brought to the
front as fast as possible. Using virtual machines to study attack vectors is quite common. Using virtual machines for browsers right away might be good idea, it seems.
But offering a virtual engine containing Firefox doesn't do Mozilla a favor as you might
get the impression that it rather
needs the extra jail to be safe -- which is IMHO not
true. Contrast that with a virtual engine pre-packaged with IE6. That makes more sense. Rolling back any malware that sneaked in using the VMware specific means is
exactly the thing you would need -- given you need IE.
No, Mozilla Firefox does
not need the virtualization. It is safe without already.
He, the next critical patch to it will prove me wrong.
