Comments on: What You Need to Know About the Java Exploit

By: JCitizen

JCitizen — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 01:58:59 +0000

Until you gain enough experience you don’t.

By: Steve

Steve — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 15:33:18 +0000

Sounds like you don’t really know what you are doing.

By: Will

Will — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:37:32 +0000

Read your story about Java, and others’ advice to get rid of Java. I have WinXP and an iPad, and up until I uninstalled Java on my PC, my Google Calendar synced just fine between the 2.

I can’t find any help definitely linking the need to have active Java on the PC to make the sync function work…

I’m going to try the 2 browser approach, but would still like to know if Java is needed for syncing.

By: apchar

apchar — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 19:51:21 +0000

So what’s a web developer to do?
I’d like to write games for the web. That means java. Javascript won’t do half of what Java can do.
I can’t realistically tell my users to use a different browser just for my site. I can hear the complaints now. Firefox users remember how frustrating it was to find a website that required IE. I can safely assume my users have been scared into disabling the java plugin. What’s left? Is Java Web Start affected by these threats? I assume it would not be affected by a disabled plugin. I guess I could provide a JNLP link. Users might trust that. It works for Nord.

By: JCitizen

JCitizen — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 23:14:55 +0000

My version of chrome finally started treating Java like your 1st link describes. The odd thing, is sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. (java – not the blocking control)

I’ve never been able to get java to test correctly despite doing everything in the book to tech the problem. I haven’t missed it though, because it works when I need it oddly enough. I’d swear my blended defenses may be responsible for this, but I don’t know how, with this on again off again inconsistency

The only thing I can think of is that Avast’s script blocker will block all but a few URLs that actually need java to work to continue doing business.

Thanks Eric and Brian for you thoughtful responses!

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 23:04:28 +0000

Caitlyn, I don’t know Chrome as well as I know Firefox, but here are some links that might be helpful in getting Java working in Chrome. Pay attention in particular to the links at the bottom of the first page.

http://java.com/en/download/faq/chrome.xml

http://support.google.com/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2429779

I would follow Brian’s advice after that, though, and use a different browser for general web browsing. It’s either that and go back and forth between enabling/disabling Java in Chrome or browsing the web in a more vulnerable state.

By: BrianKrebs

BrianKrebs — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 21:32:44 +0000

Caitlyn,

I would adopt a two-browser approach, a la the instructions in the story:

Q: A site I use often requires the Java plugin to be enabled. What should I do?
A: If you need Java for specific Web sites, a better solution is to adopt a two-browser approach. If you normally browse the Web with Firefox, for example, consider disabling the Java plugin in Firefox, and then using an alternative browser (Chrome, IE9, Safari, etc.) with Java enabled to browse only the site(s) that require(s) it.

By: Caitlyn

Caitlyn — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 21:24:48 +0000

I’m not really sure about all of this (I’m not very good with computers) but i’ve installed the latest version of Java. Chrome still insists that it’s out of date, and don’t let me play certain videos. I need these videos for class, so I need to fix this right away. Do you have any suggestions?

By: JensE

JensE — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 01:02:29 +0000

Yes.

By: Alex

Alex — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 19:46:55 +0000

I drink coffee… am I at risk?