Aces High Bulletin Board

General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: TequilaChaser on September 13, 2013, 05:49:05 PM

Title: Security of Java takes a dangerous turn for the worse, experts say
Post by: TequilaChaser on September 13, 2013, 05:49:05 PM
for those of you who think using java has no effect on you,


you should read the following link

Security of Java takes a dangerous turn for the worse, experts say

Beware of increasingly advanced exploits targeting flaws that will never be fixed.

http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/09/security-of-java-takes-a-dangerous-turn-for-the-worse-experts-say/


there is more problems regarding "Java" besides what is mentioned in the above linked article...... 


hope this helps someone

TC

Title: Re: Security of Java takes a dangerous turn for the worse, experts say
Post by: Skuzzy on September 14, 2013, 06:20:08 AM
Java has always been an exploit waiting to happen.  The single worst thing that has ever happened to the computer industry.
Title: Re: Security of Java takes a dangerous turn for the worse, experts say
Post by: MrRiplEy[H] on September 14, 2013, 10:24:04 AM
Java has always been an exploit waiting to happen.  The single worst thing that has ever happened to the computer industry.

Luckily nobody is forced to have it on the computer. I never install the thing and remove it even from OSX.
Title: Re: Security of Java takes a dangerous turn for the worse, experts say
Post by: mipoikel on September 15, 2013, 03:23:18 AM
Luckily nobody is forced to have it on the computer. I never install the thing and remove it even from OSX.

Danske Bank... good thing is they have changed it a few months ago but people still need java if they want to use danske bank when paying in webstores.
Title: Re: Security of Java takes a dangerous turn for the worse, experts say
Post by: Bizman on September 15, 2013, 03:32:09 AM
Danske Bank... good thing is they have changed it a few months ago but people still need java if they want to use danske bank when paying in webstores.
Old William knew that centuries ago:
Quote from: Marcellus (Hamlet Act 1, scene 4, 90)
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
Title: Re: Security of Java takes a dangerous turn for the worse, experts say
Post by: MrRiplEy[H] on September 15, 2013, 04:00:11 AM
Danske Bank... good thing is they have changed it a few months ago but people still need java if they want to use danske bank when paying in webstores.

Nobody is forced to use Danske bank...

Quote
Quote from: Marcellus (Hamlet Act 1, scene 4, 90)
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

ROFL good one Bizman. Hit the nail in the head.
Title: Re: Security of Java takes a dangerous turn for the worse, experts say
Post by: Vulcan on September 16, 2013, 12:45:40 AM
Java has always been an exploit waiting to happen.  The single worst thing that has ever happened to the computer industry.


what are the options? Go back to 1990's internet?
Title: Re: Security of Java takes a dangerous turn for the worse, experts say
Post by: BaldEagl on September 16, 2013, 12:54:22 AM
I uninstalled Java from all my machines several months ago.  I've yet to run into anything I'm missing on the Internet without it although there was one web-site that asked me to install it to access their "content".
Title: Re: Security of Java takes a dangerous turn for the worse, experts say
Post by: MrRiplEy[H] on September 16, 2013, 04:15:03 AM

what are the options? Go back to 1990's internet?

Java is very rarely needed on anything web page related. It's mostly used for different kinds of applications. Javascript then again is very common. But for safety reasons javascript should be blocked too.
Title: Re: Security of Java takes a dangerous turn for the worse, experts say
Post by: Skuzzy on September 16, 2013, 06:16:32 AM

what are the options? Go back to 1990's internet?

You of all people should appreciate the fact Java is a huge security problem which cannot be made secure.  Yes, I would rather go back to pure HTML, than run an ill designed implementation prone to unlimited exploits.
Title: Re: Security of Java takes a dangerous turn for the worse, experts say
Post by: Bino on September 16, 2013, 08:33:16 AM
It is certainly true that Java version 7 has huge problems, but the gist of the alarmist article is that Java version 6, "...which Oracle stopped supporting in February...", (over six months ago!) is unpatched and vulnerable.  And that if you must sill use Java you should update to Java version 7, ASAP.
Title: Re: Security of Java takes a dangerous turn for the worse, experts say
Post by: MrRiplEy[H] on September 16, 2013, 08:47:16 AM
It is certainly true that Java version 7 has huge problems, but the gist of the alarmist article is that Java version 6, "...which Oracle stopped supporting in February...", (over six months ago!) is unpatched and vulnerable.  And that if you must sill use Java you should update to Java version 7, ASAP.


Some applications actually require Java6. Updating can result in nasty surprises: http://www.jnbridge.com/jn/blog/2013/01/28/java-7-update-silently-deletes-java-6-breaks-applications/
Title: Re: Security of Java takes a dangerous turn for the worse, experts say
Post by: Patches1 on September 16, 2013, 12:30:18 PM
Folks,

I'm just a layman so I am understanding that JAVA is not the same as JavaScript? Am I correct? Is JavaScript safe to use?

Thanx
Title: Re: Security of Java takes a dangerous turn for the worse, experts say
Post by: 715 on September 16, 2013, 01:28:10 PM
Folks,

I'm just a layman so I am understanding that JAVA is not the same as JavaScript? Am I correct? Is JavaScript safe to use?

Thanx

Java and Javascript are not the same. For example, despite the name, Javascript is not a script version of Java.  Java is dangerous and not really needed for run of the mill web pages.  Javascript can also be dangerous, but pretty much nothing on the web will work properly with it disabled.  So you pay your money and takes your chances.
Title: Re: Security of Java takes a dangerous turn for the worse, experts say
Post by: MrRiplEy[H] on September 16, 2013, 10:04:29 PM
Java and Javascript are not the same. For example, despite the name, Javascript is not a script version of Java.  Java is dangerous and not really needed for run of the mill web pages.  Javascript can also be dangerous, but pretty much nothing on the web will work properly with it disabled.  So you pay your money and takes your chances.

Actually most things on the web will work at basic level without javascript but some badly made websites may have even hyperlinks and menus disabled if you don't enable javascript. I always run noscript on my computers so by default no website uses any javascript or flash when I enter them. If I see the need for it I can enable a specific site for javascript but leave googleapi etc sites disabled. Often ad networks are a source of attacks so better not to see them. And this of course is while using Mac or Linux - with windows I don't browse the net. Period.
Title: Re: Security of Java takes a dangerous turn for the worse, experts say
Post by: mthrockmor on September 16, 2013, 10:44:42 PM
So I use Windows 7. I'm sure I have both Java and JavaScript. If I am reading this correctly I should remove Java from my computer. JavaScript I can leave?

Would it be best to remove both? With those gone should I replace them with something else or will Windows 7 automatically compensate in some manner?

Thanks in advance!
Boo
Title: Re: Security of Java takes a dangerous turn for the worse, experts say
Post by: Vulcan on September 16, 2013, 11:09:34 PM
You of all people should appreciate the fact Java is a huge security problem which cannot be made secure.  Yes, I would rather go back to pure HTML, than run an ill designed implementation prone to unlimited exploits.

Yes, but so is flash, so is HTML5, so is just about any web browser.
Title: Re: Security of Java takes a dangerous turn for the worse, experts say
Post by: Brooke on September 17, 2013, 12:56:59 AM
Too many web pages rely on scripting to remove JavaScript, in my opinion.

Java is different.  Not many sites at all require that, and these days you can easily disable it from running on your browser (in the Java control panel).  I'm not keen on enabling it on my browser except for particular sites (like financial ones with involved financial tools).

I love Java as a programming language, though.  We use it as the main language for code that runs the industrial instruments our company builds, where a single crash of the application costs hundreds to thousands of dollars in wasted materials and 1-3 days delay in production.  It's used on machines in our own production facility and customer sites in various other countries.  It's been great for that.
Title: Re: Security of Java takes a dangerous turn for the worse, experts say
Post by: 715 on September 17, 2013, 01:05:13 AM
Java is a program that gets installed on your computer and can be removed by the Uninstall routine on Control Panel (Add/Remove Programs... or at least that is correct for XP).  Doing so might disable some programs that depend on Java.  You can also leave Java on the computer and turn off Java in your browser options so that it doesn't get utilized for web pages.

Javascript is part of your browser and you can enable or disable it within the browsers options section.  Some browsers, like Opera, allow the user to turn on Javascript only for chosen websites and leave it off for the rest.  On Firefox you can use the NoScript addon to do the same thing.   Many web pages will sort of work with Javascript off.  This forum, for example, will allow posting but none of the buttons or smilies in the editing page will work with Javascript off and you have to enter the []code yourself.