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March 13, 2017

What is Firefox?

First known as 'Phoenix', the open source browser is now one of the most popular web browsers in the world.

By Ellie Burns

Firefox is a free, open source web browser.

The web browser is available for Windows, OS X and Linux operating systems, as well as Android, iOS and Firefox OS versions for mobile.

Created in 2002 by the Mozilla Foundation, Firefox was developed under the codename ‘Phoenix’ by Mozilla community members who wanted a standalone browser. Popular for its speed, security and add-ons, Firefox was released in November 2004 and had 60 million downloads within nine months of launch.

Earning the accolade of second most popular desktop browser worldwide, Firefox has a number of features such as private browsing, tabbed browsing, incremental find and live bookmarking.

Why is there a bug bounty?

Functions can also be added through add-ons created by third-party developers. Firefox can also be customised by adding themes to it, with a number of websites available in which to create and download personalised themes.

Firefox is noted for its security, with the browser using a sandbox security model. This limits scripts from accessing data from other websites based on the same-origin policy.

A bug bounty is also offered by the Mozilla Foundation to anyone who discovers severe security holes in Firefox. Currently there is a cash reward and a Mozilla t-shirt for anyone who wins the bug bounty.

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