Uncommon Descent Serving The Intelligent Design Community

ALERT: A caution on the ongoing hacker attack on the Java programming language

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Off topic, but important as a service to UD’s readers. HERE.

Pardon, I took some days before commenting, until I found some useful info beyond the media panic headlines. Notice the clip from Oracle’s advisory, the link to the FAQ and the further link on gory technical details.

The bottomline is that over the past year Java has apparently been the vector used for 50% of hacking attacks, and Adobe reader has been used for 28%. Internet Explorer and Windows — the “traditional” targets of hobbyist hackers and those who hack for money from organised crime or spy agencies —  by contrast, have gone way down. At least, as percentages.

Hacking is not going away, and we need to take proper precautions, or we may find our computers used as vehicles for attacks on web sites, with all that that also implies about what else the software is sniffing out on our machines — passwords, online financial transactions, etc no doubt.

I trust this will be helpful to all who come to UD.

And, this being an intelligent design site, we should ask: what are the odds that such hacking has come about by unlucky noise on the Internet that has somehow constructed such programs? END

Comments
Welcome. If you cannot but use it set aside a second browser for that purpose and that purpose only, and use it on that trusted site or context. There are many good browsers out there, the top tier and then there are a lot of others. At all times, practice web safety steps. Remember, software can infect and lurk in your machine then when you go on the net, bingo. Remember, too that he no 2 threat is Acrobat Reader. Update it and keep it up to date. KFkairosfocus
January 23, 2013
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I use Java for business, many thanks for the heads up.jstanley01
January 22, 2013
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