mikiem2
Moderator
http://threatpost.com/java-com-tmz-serving-malvertising-redirects-to-angler-exploit-kit/107943
Online ad network AppNexus has again been identified at the core of another malvertising campaign using the Angler Exploit Kit to redirect visitors to sites hosting the Asprox malware.Busy, popular websites including TMZ, Photobucket and Java.com in recent days have been serving malicious advertisements to visitors as part of this campaign, security company Fox-IT said.
Firefox still doesn't like Java. I just clicked and this is what I found when told to More information.
I do not have it installed on this machine so have no idea why Java even has it as "disabled".
ChrisS
Administrator
Some websites require Java in order to use them (not visit them, use them) so you either have to remember to enable/disable Java, use an add-on to accept scripts only from sites you trust and block scripts on all other sites, use another browser with Java enabled for those sites, or simply trust that they're won't be a problem.
My preference is to block Java scripts on most sites using NoScript (it's for the Firefox family of browsers). There now appear to be at least two similar add-ons for Chrome, ScriptSafe and Scriptblock. I don't have Chrome installed so I can't comment on the add-ons, and there may well be others. Maybe I'll give Chrome another look now that a script blocker is available.
There's a difference between JavaScript and Java. Firefox lets the JavaScript but not Java.
I object to the way that Chrome installs (unless it's changed it). Then again, Kindle for PC is just as bad. They insist on installing into the USER area. That means, if you have multiple users on your PC, each must install Chrome separately. That can be a lot of duplication!
I'm generally happy with Firefox and keep IE around because there are a few sites that just do not work right with Firefox but do with IE.
mikiem2
Moderator
What is happening with Java these days? I have had it disabled for a long time because there was a problem running it with Firefox. I now use Chrome. Is it safe to download Java at this point?
There was a GOTD game using Java a while back. In the discussion re: whether Java was good, bad, or neutral, I took to Google, motivated because someone disagreed with WR. I wanted to explain that because I no longer have any of the links, but the info is out there if you want to double check.
What I found was that the BIG problem with Java is people running outdated versions, plus the way some browser plug-ins were written was very much outdated as well. It wasn't Java that was banned or blocked, but the architecture the plug-ins used. Microsoft is blocking the old active X controls, Chrome is blocking the old api used by/with Java, & Firefox has has it disabled by default for ages.
As far as installing - not installing Java, it's something you have to defend from attacks, same as Flash, Adobe Reader, ie, Firefox, Chrome etc. If you don't need, don't use it, don't have it there in Windows -- why have an extra door that needs locked? If you do have it, keep it up to date so hopefully it'll stay locked. Recent reports out of major companies like Dell, Verizon, Microsoft etc. all agree that the majority of systems breached or compromised over the last couple few years all had unpatched vulnerabilities -- the patches were readily available, but no one bothered.
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