Outdated plugins are a major source of security and stability risk for web users, and some studies have put the proportion of users with older versions as high as 80%.

Just visit mozilla.com/plugincheck/ to run a plugin check for your browser.

You should also check out SecBrowsing, another powerful tool that helps you keep your browser and plugins up-to-date. If you are using Google Chrome, there is a SecBrowsing extension that alerts you if plugins are out-of-date.

Just visit secbrowsing.appspot.com to run a browser plugin check. Afterwards SecBrowsing will automatically provide you with quick links/fixes for your browser plugins that are vulnerable. If you are using Google Chrome, there is an extension that periodically checks if your browser is running any out-of-date, vulnerable plugins (e.g., Java, Flash) and notifies you if you do.

SecBrowsing’s source code is available on Google Code. Also check out SecBrowsing’s blog for regular news on browser-related security issues.

You can follow SecBrowsing on Twitter here.

Apple ‘s latest version of Mac OS X brought amongst many new and amazing features a new and extremely harmful bug. The bug is complete loss of all data in user’s home directory. For the bug to occur a user must log in as guest and then log out and log in as normal user.

Many users have been reporting the bug since September, but only yesterday Apple acknowledged it.

We are aware of the issue, which occurs only in extremely rare cases, and we are working on a fix.

The only solution currently available is if you have Time Machine enabled, via witch you can restore your files, otherwise, good bye my precious data.

Unfortunately this appears to be only one of the many annoying bugs that have been introduced to Snow Leopard. Let ‘s hope that most of the issues will be fixed in the next updates.

This new solution, to be offered at no charge to consumers, will be architected for a smaller footprint that will use fewer computing resources, making it ideal for low-bandwidth scenarios or less powerful PCs.

Two days ago Microsoft released the final version of its Security Essentials aka Morro. You can download it here. It is available for Windows XP 32‐bit, Windows Vista/WIN7 32‐bit and Windows Vista/WIN7 64‐bit. For the time being, Microsoft Security Essentials is available in many languages.

Some of the key features include:

• Comprehensive malware protection
• Simple, free download*
• Automatic updates
• Easy to use

*You should also note that your PC must run genuine Windows to install Microsoft Security Essentials.

I am really curious about Morro‘s performance over the next few months.