Urgent: Disable Java on Your Computer (Homeland Security warns of potential hacker attack)

If you have not yet seen or acted upon Homeland Security's warning, I urge you to do so immediately:

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is advising people to temporarily disable the Java software on their computers to avoid potential hacking attacks. The recommendation came in an advisory issued late Thursday, following up on concerns raised by computer security experts.

BlazingCatFur explains the situation:

My suspicion is that it's related to this: Iran blamed for massive cyber attack on U.S. banks data centers as 'puppet hacking group' says they did it because the anti-Mohammed movie is still on the internet.

BCF links to a helpful site, but the instructions may be a bit confusing to some:

Last month Oracle released a new Java version, Update 10, that includes a one-stop option for disabling Java in all browsers in the Java Control Panel. Open Control Panel and launch the Java applet. If you don't see it, switch to Classic View (in XP) or small icons (in Vista or Windows 7). Click the Security tab. In previous versions this tab just allowed advanced users to manage Java-related certificates. It now displays a security-level slider and, more important, a single checkbox titled "Enable Java content in the browser." Un-check this box, click OK, and you're done.

There is a simple and effective solution to this and other threats. Do you want a bullet-proof web surfing computer that can’t be corrupted? Any perceived problems can be fixed by a quick reboot. No anti-virus programs required to protect it, either.

Keep your Windows or Mac computer isolated offline. Many of us have older desktop computers laying around or can scrounge one up for little or nothing. A hard drive isn’t even needed, just a DVD drive. I use a 10-year-old Dell with 512Mb memory, but could get by with even less. Boot that old desktop PC off an operating system demo disk. Oops, Windows and Apple don’t offer one. Use a Linux demo disk, such as Ubuntu or Mint. You can buy demo disks online or else download and burn images from the Linux websites to create CD or DVD boot disks.

If you ever believe you stumbled across a boobytrapped website, just reboot to purge the problem - you have no hard disk to compromise.

Is a little inconvenience worth the simplicity and safety?

Oracle, like most tech companies, overwhelmingly supported Obama and other Democrats. And, like most companies these days, also supported some select Republicans too.

Oracle says the patch for the latest Java exploit will be out this week, as is being widely reported.

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/cpujan2013-1515902.html

Question is how will I know if a pop up saying "for those who uninstalled JAVA...
A general rule of thumb is to ignore all pop ups, especially if they want you to go to some website or "warn" you about something, or download a "must have" program, etc.
Keep watching the internet for Oracle to announce either a new update or security patch. Should be ready by Tuesday.
Then go to Oracle's site to download and install. Here's the link (http://java.com/en/download/index.jsp)

My MS security scan picked up and quarantined 3 “JS/BlacoleRef.W” trojans this morning after I got a clean scan with AVIRA premium just hours prior.
Any connection?

I use “NoScript” which is a Mozilla app for Sea Monkey. It allows me to selectively block or permit Java - which many sites require for things to work.

Just more BS to confuse Internet innocents. JAVA has always been insecure, but many web pages won’t work without it. Furthermore, Microsoft Windows itself is fundamentally insure in almost every way conceivable anyway. The government suddenly telling people to quit using JAVA would be like them telling people to quit driving their cars because some other driver might hit them.

Do remember, this is the Obama administration issuing this statement! While at the same time as giving out worse-than-useless advice to people that will make their web browsing quit working, they’re also busily undefending our borders, playing kissy-kiss with our enemies, and instituting a massive domestic spy apparatus.

So there you have it. Are you really going to screw around with your PC because the Obama Administration told you to?

Thanks for the reply. SOrry to get back to you so late. Got sidetracked.
I looked in control panel, all programs, etc., etc. Nothing there. Disabled Javascript in Firefox and Explorer. From what I have been told, javascript and java are two different things. Javascript is O.K.?? Java is not?
Anyway, I even searched the C drive for “Java”. Only thing that comes up is Javascript in Adobe Reader 10.

NoScript 2.6.4.2
by Giorgio Maone - http://maone.net/

“The best security you can get in a web browser!
Allow active content to run only from sites you trust, and protect yourself against XSS and Clickjacking attacks.”

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/seamonkey/addon/noscript/?src=hp-dl-featured

If a page won’t work, I selectively allow scripts that look legit until it does and leave the rest blocked. Most video and streaming audio seems to require Java, and a lot of shopping sites check out etc. won’t work without it.

One of the reasons I abandoned Facebook was NoScript showed me all of the Java junk it wanted to set on me (and much of FB won’t work without it) and how intrusive it is.
I bailed and never went back.

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