JYoung6180@aol.com wrote: > Charani- > > I would agree that all of the things you mentioned are important but when > the Dept. of Homeland Security takes the times to tell everyone to DISABLE > JAVA in their Web browsers and continues to state there are serious > vulnerabilities in JAVA even after all of the updates and when my Firefox 19 > disabled JAVA just a few days ago in the update (I had already had it disabled > prior to the update but those who did not have reported that the update made > disable the default), I have to feel that JAVA is vulnerable no matter how > much Oracle attempts to patch it. I don't use Firefox (or IE). It may be an issue if and when I update my browser but I hope not. The UK Dept of Homeland Security hasn't issued any such warnings that I'm aware of and I'm not entirely sure anyone would actually believe them if they did. At the end of the day, it's up to the individual user whether they disable JAVA in their browsers or not, uninstall it or ignore the advice. > Like others have said I don't recommend REMOVING JAVA and it is safe to use > locally on your computer, but I wouldn't trust any Web application that > uses it. The hackers are more aware than ever of the vulnerabilities and are > sure to be exploiting them in any Web-based use of JAVA they can find. > Flash (not overly secure itself but better than JAVA) and HTML5 would be more > secure alternatives. Hackers will look for anything that will make their job of spoiling things for everyone else a bit easier but even without JAVA hackers would still, er, hack systems. Precautions should be taken as far as possible. The only truly safe way of not getting hacked is not to use a computer at all at any time for any reason. I don't intend uninstalling JAVA. It's needed for certain things on my computer. I can stop it running completely if I chose to, without uninstalling it. I trust Flash less than I do JAVA, esp when it updates itself without my permission and JAVA doesn't. Smeone I know used Flash on their site. I couldn't use because I didn't have Flash on my PC at the time. When I mentioned it, he said all sites HAD to have Flash and wouldn't have it that that wasn't so. I feel it's up to webpage designers and hosts as much as visitors to keep everyone safe. > As for the Open Office Help problem...is this houses ON your computer or is > it accessed via a browser? If it is local it would be safe to use --- and > disabling in the browsers wouldn't stop anyone from using it locally. Also, > if it is disabled in a browser and you ABSOLUTELY trust the site using > it...then temporarily turn it on. The OpenOffice hiccup wasn't mine although I do use Open Office. If I ever have any worries about my computer's safety, I can very easily unplug the network cable and run my security programs before reconnecting if all is well. -- Charani (UK) OPC for Walton, Ashcott, Shapwick, Greinton and Clutton, SOM http://wsom-opc.org.uk