Is JAVA safe to use now?

[chaos_crystal]

Hey All! After all the trouble and the scare about Java last year, I was one of the millions who disabled it / took it off my puter (been a long time, can't remember if it's still on my HD or not). I might be interested in giving JWildfire a go, just to see what I can do with it...I'm an experimenter! Trouble is, I'm still very leery of Java...I read where it is OK now but there is still a risk...which IMO means it is not really OK. Any thoughts, guys???

[Sockratease]

There never was any risk in java on an offline computer.

The risk is in allowing websites to run java scripts.

So a java app is perfectly safe, especially if the web is not connected while running it   

[marius]

There never was any risk in java on an offline computer.

The risk is in allowing websites to run java scripts.

So a java app is perfectly safe, especially if the web is not connected while running it   

I hope whichever marketing goon named javascript enjoys the confusion and waste of lives that ensued. 

In a modern browser, running javascript is quite alright.
Standalone java applications are quite alright, with the caveat you install them from a trusted source.
Running any browser with the java plugin ('webstart') open for all sites is a sure way to get infected.

Anyone who is developing java applets for client-side, in-browser computing this day and age has not gotten the memo that that platform is dead.

[Sockratease]

...Anyone who is developing java applets for client-side, in-browser computing this day and age has not gotten the memo that that platform is dead.

Rumours of it's death must have been greatly exaggerated then!

Have you seen the images coming out of JWildfire?

Amazing stuff for a dead program!!

It may be getting less use, but it's far from dead.  Is there a newer way to write cross platform applications now?  If so, *I* missed that memo   

[marius]

Rumours of it's death must have been greatly exaggerated then!

Have you seen the images coming out of JWildfire?

Amazing stuff for a dead program!!

It may be getting less use, but it's far from dead.  Is there a newer way to write cross platform applications now?  If so, *I* missed that memo   

JWildfire is a java application, no? Not an in-browser applet. The latter is playing w/ fire 

[Sockratease]

JWildfire is a java application, no? Not an in-browser applet. The latter is playing w/ fire 

Yes, it is not an in-browser thingy.

I only mentioned it because the original post specifically mentioned using JWildfire and it's safety.  I tried to be clear, but my brain is made entirely out of wood, and I think the termites may be causing problems...   

[cKleinhuis]

ok, @chaoscchrystal, it is perfectly fine if you just launch a dedicated application - like jwildfire - the problem with java and its security risks
is when you have an active browser plugin, and a website has some bad code when you load that page, it can run java code, the most
modern browser spit out at least a warning about java when it is active, so, feel free to download java on your computer, but make sure
any plugin that might get automatically installed is switched of!

you might use this link to test your browser against it, the following page should complain about no java installed when clicking
on the "check java version" button

http://www.java.com/en/download/installed.jsp

[chaos_crystal]

Sock, you make me laugh out loud 

So I'm seeing this here, and I could probably just download the Windows Offline version, yes?

http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp

I looked in my change/remove hardware area and my former Java (the coffecup one) was removed, some while back.

As for active browser plugins, my brain must be made of termite-infested wood, too, I'm not quite sure what that means, unless it's like those little apps like Anfy which I don't think anyone uses anymore anyway...? That ran on a script which was pretty easy to edit, even for a dummy like me...I had flowing water and cool stuff like that...

I just looked up java webstart and I see what that means... That wouldn't be included with an offline version, though?

[blob]

Java webstart and Java browser plugins are different things:

Java browser plugins run Java applets embedded in web pages within a web browser.

Java webstart is running online java code through executing a jnlp file on your computer.

[chaos_crystal]

Okay, the latest version of Oracle Java is installed. It didn't ask me about webstart or any addons. I went to the java dialog box and disabled it so that it won't be running in my browser. The only time I would wish to enable it would be for using JWildfire.

Is this the correct approach? I want to be certain I'm doing everything right and I'm safe.

I suppose the absolute safest way to install Java and JWildfire would be to put them on my laptop, which has never (believe it or not) had any connection to the internet...

[blob]

If you want to make absolutely sure the browser plugins will never work then delete all occurrences of:

npjp2.dll
npoji610.dll
npjpi170_45.dll
jp2iexp.dll

If you want to make absolutely sure java webstart will never work then delete all occurrences of:

javaws.exe

Of course any plain offline java program (as exe or executable jar) can still go online after that like any Windows program can so make sure you run a good firewall with outbound filtering set to deny network access to any program but those you specifically allow.

And, between you and me, Java (even with browser plugins enabled) is a very minor security risk IMO compared to going online with Internet Explorer (or any program which use its runtimes such as Outlook email client or any IE based third-party browser), this by deliberate design from your "friends" at Microsoft...

All this only if you're a Windows user of course.

[Roquen]

PDFs.

[Nahee_Enterprises]

    If you want to make absolutely sure the browser plugins will never work then delete all occurrences of:
            npjp2.dll
            npoji610.dll
            npjpi170_45.dll
            jp2iexp.dll
    If you want to make absolutely sure java webstart will never work then delete all occurrences of:
            javaws.exe
    Of course any plain offline java program (as exe or executable jar) can still go online after that like any
    Windows program can so make sure you run a good firewall with outbound filtering set to deny network
    access to any program but those you specifically allow.
    And, between you and me, Java (even with browser plugins enabled) is a very minor security risk IMO
    compared to going online with Internet Explorer (or any program which use its runtimes such as Outlook
    email client or any IE based third-party browser), this by deliberate design from your "friends" at Microsoft...
    All this only if you're a Windows user of course.

Very good advice, especially the portion about using MS-IE and MS-Outlook.  A User is more likely to get infected by running all of that MS crap!!!   
 

[chaos_crystal]

  Ohh, thank you, guys, for all the great advice!! And I thought I was asking a truly termite-infested question... I did disable Java with that little tick box to prevent it going online. But now I can do a lot of other things to further protect myself. 

And noooo, I am a staunch Firefox user, no more IE for me. At one time I used Incredimail also, it's a lot like Outlook...I quit using it b/c it eats up a lot of hard drive space... I hardly ever have any problems when my antivirus program runs...it's a shock if I DO have anything bad in there...

Any more questions, I'll be back around....thanks again

[Mrz00m]

well, i have heard, that every single java applet in existence was attacked by a virus that writes itself from the person running the applet remotely, back into the applet, and then it infects every other person, and that it has very fast infected 40 million servers holding java applets. it's a trojan horse and they can see through your webcam and have keyloggers.

only joking. lol

well i think it's safe on an edu website.