Java Exploit Patched? Not So Fast
PCM2 writes "The Register reports that Security Explorations' Adam Gowdiak says there is still an exploitable vulnerability in the Java SE 7 Update 7 that Oracle shipped as an emergency patch yesterday. 'As in the case of the earlier vulnerabilities, Gowdiak says, this flaw allows an attacker to bypass the Java security sandbox completely, making it possible to install malware or execute malicious code on affected systems.'"
Normally I'd agree with you, but the exact same thing is true of JavaScript and yet very, very few people are calling for a universal end to that. Now, a handful of people (relative to the global computer userbase) use NoScript, but even among NoScript users most realize that it's either too complex or too difficult for most people to use correctly all the time.
As it happens, I do block plug-ins (especially Flash and Java) by default, permitting them only on a case-by-case basis, except where I can remove them entirely. However, even to my (highly technical; he's been coding since he was in high school) father, that's too much of a hassle. He expects (rightly, if not wisely) that software vendors will keep their software as secure as possible, and respond quickly to any threats. That's the standard to which I'm holding Oracle here, and they're failing to meet it.
There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...