Mozilla 'Plug-n-Hack' project aims for tighter security tool integration

Mozilla is developing a protocol that aims to let security tools and Web browsers work better together.

Configuring a Web browser to work with a security tool involves writing platform and browser-specific extensions, a nontrivial process that discourages people with less experience, wrote Simon Bennetts, a security automation engineer with Mozilla, on Thursday.

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The proposed standard, called "Plug-n-Hack," will define how security extensions can work with a browser in a more usable way, Bennetts wrote. PnH will allow the security tool to "declare the functionality that they support which is suitable for invoking directly from the browser."

Under the current arrangement, if a user wants to, for example, intercept HTTPS traffic, a user must configure proxy connections through the tool and browser correctly and import the tool's SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate, Bennetts wrote.

"If any of these steps are carried out incorrectly then the browser will typically fail to connect to any website -- debugging such problems can be frustrating and time-consuming," Bennetts wrote.

Users may also have to switch often between the tool and their browser to intercept an HTTPS request.

"PnH allows security tools to declare the functionality that they support which is suitable for invoking directly from the browser," Bennets wrote. "A browser that supports PnH can then allow the user to invoke such functionality without having to switch to and from the tool."

The PnH protocol is being designed to be browser and tool independent. The implementation for Firefox has been released under the Mozilla Public License 2.0 and can be incorporated into commercial products for free, Bennetts wrote.

The next phase of the project is being planned, but it is expected it will allow browsers to "advertise their capabilities to security tools," he wrote.

"This will allow the tools to obtain information directly from the browser, and even use the browser as an extension of the tool," Bennetts wrote.

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Outlook.com and Skype integration starts to roll out

Microsoft has integrated Outlook.com with Skype in several countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, and Germany, offering users the ability to tap Skype functions and contacts from within the interface of the webmail application.

The link between the two products lets Outlook.com users do Skype video chats, audio calling, and instant messaging. Other countries where this is now available are Brazil, France, and Canada. Microsoft plans to offer this integration worldwide "in the near future," Microsoft said in a blog post on Monday.

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Microsoft is pursuing this integration because email exchanges are often escalated to audio and video communications, so bridging the interface gap between Outlook.com and Skype makes sense, the company said.

"Email is an important and personal tool for most people, but there are moments when you want to be able to speak live or chat face-to-face," wrote Dawn Martynuik, group product manager of Outlook.com, in the blog post.

Ironically, Outlook.com already has links with Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Outlook.com hit a rough patch last week, when it malfunctioned in various ways for an undisclosed number of users between Wednesday and Sunday. The glitches impacted mobile access to the inbox and the ability to share SkyDrive files via email.

Outlook.com has had other stability, availability, and performance problems in recent months, including a high-profile outage in mid-March.

Microsoft launched a preview of Outlook.com in July 2012, billing it as a reinvention of webmail from the user interface to the back end designed to let the company better compete against Gmail and Yahoo Mail. Outlook.com eventually replaced Hotmail as the company's webmail service.

Last month, Microsoft celebrated Outlook.com's 1-year anniversary, rattling off a long list of positives, but also acknowledging that the service hasn't been as stable as expected.

"We had some bumps over the last year and there were places where our performance hasn't met the high standard we set for ourselves," Dick Craddock, group program manager of Outlook.com, wrote in that blog post, published on July 31.

Juan Carlos Perez covers enterprise communication/collaboration suites, operating systems, browsers and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Juan on Twitter at @JuanCPerezIDG.

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