Mozilla Thunderbird is a popular email client for Mozilla Firefox. It is also one of the most popular browsers on the market. However, some security experts have accused Google of using vulnerabilities in Thunderbird to attack Mozilla users. They say that this practice is dangerous because it allows Google to gain access to user data and track their activities.
Sometimes when you are looking for an answer to one thing, you end up finding something else rather surprising. Case in point, Google’s statement that Mozilla Thunderbird is less secure, but why do they say that? Today’s SuperUser Q&A post has the answer to a confused reader’s question.
Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-driven grouping of Q&A web sites.
The Question
SuperUser reader Nemo wants to know why Google considers Thunderbird to be less secure:
Why does Google say Mozilla Thunderbird is less secure?
Some examples of apps that do not support the latest security standards include […] Desktop mail clients like Microsoft Outlook and Mozilla Thunderbird.
Google then offers an all-or-nothing secure vs. non secure account switch (“Allow less secure apps”).
Why does Google say Thunderbird does not support the latest security standards? Is Google trying to say that standard protocols like IMAP, SMTP and POP3 are less secure ways to access a mailbox? Are they trying to say that the activities users engage in with the software puts their accounts at risk or what?
Secunia’s Vulnerability Report on Mozilla Thunderbird 24.x says:
Unpatched 11 percent (1 of 9 Secunia advisories) […] The most severe unpatched Secunia advisory affecting Mozilla Thunderbird 24. x, with all vendor patches applied, is rated highly critical (apparently SA59803).
The Answer
SuperUser contributor Techie007 has the answer for us:
Have something to add to the explanation? Sound off in the comments. Want to read more answers from other tech-savvy Stack Exchange users? Check out the full discussion thread here.
Beginning in the second half of 2014, we will start gradually increasing the security checks performed when users log into Google. These additional checks will ensure that only the intended user has access to their account, whether through a browser, device, or application. These changes will affect any application that sends a user name and/or password to Google. To better protect your users, we recommend you upgrade all of your applications to OAuth 2. 0. If you choose not to do so, your users will be required to take extra steps in order to keep accessing your applications. In summary, if your application currently uses plain passwords to authenticate to Google, we strongly encourage you to minimize user disruption by switching to OAuth 2. 0.
Source: New Security Measures Will Affect Older (non-OAuth 2.0) Applications (Google Online Security Blog)
