In response to the Columbia University Information Technology announcement sent earlier this week, SPSTech has disabled browser-based Java on all office computers. This change is intended to prevent a number of security issues and will not affect the majority of online applications. Any error messages regarding a "missing Java plug-in" are most likely due to this update
Last week (January 2013) the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) advised that users to disable Java in browsers on their computer. You may see information about a new patch from Oracle, which addresses this vulnerability but it has new vulnerabilities. It is recommended that you take appropriate measures to protect your system.
The issue:
Java is a programming language and computing platform for Microsoft Windows, Apple's Mac OS and Linux. It is a free software available for users to download. Java Plug-in is used by browsers to run applets written for Java. A security hole in Java implementation allows a hacker to execute arbitrary code remotely. In other words, this exploit allows an attacker to download a malicious program on its victim's computer without prompting.
How to disable Java:
Given below are instructions on how to do this on your system without removing the software.
- In Firefox, select "Tools" from the main menu, then "Add-ons," then click the "Disable" button next to any Java plug-ins.
- In Chrome, type or copy "Chrome://Plugins" into your browser's address bar, then click the "Disable" button below any Java plug-ins.
- In Safari, click "Safari" in the main menu bar, then "Preferences," then select the "Security" tab and uncheck the button next to "Enable Java."
- In Internet Explorer, follow these instructions for disabling Java in all browsers via the Control Panel. There is no way to completely disable Java specifically in IE.
For additional instructions, visit:http://www.java.com/en/download/help/disable_browser.xml.