What is Java technology and why do I need it?

Why do I need Java?

Here’s what java.com says:

“Java is fast, secure, and reliable.”

Secure? The U.S. Department of Homeland Security doesn’t seem to think so. And neither does Apple, Mozilla and Twitter.

Twitter was hacked last week. And for some reason (which wasn’t all that clearly explained), Twitter’s Director of Information Security recommended disabling Java’s browser plug-in.

If we were to speculate, we’d guess a developer at Twitter fell victim to a targeted attack which used a Java exploit. And being a hip Silicon Valley company, the developer probably uses a Mac. And that of course means the Java exploit dropped a Mac-based payload.

Kind of interesting that Mac’s anti-malware component, XProtect, was blocking Java last week, no?

Hmm, so, do you really need Java?

Here are instructions for disabling Java browser plug-ins.

On 04/02/13 At 04:09 PM

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