#Is java 8 safe for mac install

But all it takes is one application that requires Java, and you see a message like these:Īt that point, you have to make the tough choice: install the JRE and make yourself vulnerable, or find an alternative to that app. So, if you start with a clean installation of Windows 7 or OS X Lion, you’re immune from Java-based exploits.

#Is java 8 safe for mac upgrade

If you upgrade from Snow Leopard to Lion, however, the JRE remains on the system and can be targeted by Java-based exploits. Apple’s release of Java is not included with a new installation of OS X Lion.That’s one reason the Flashback attack hit Snow Leopard users especially hard. If you have one of these OS X versions installed, you must disable it manually, and there is no option to uninstall it.

Apple’s Java was included with Snow Leopard and earlier versions of OS X.

Apple maintains Java separately from Oracle.

(Sun was later acquired by Oracle, which now owns and maintains Java.)

Java is not installed by default with any modern version of Windows, thanks to an April 2004 antitrust settlement between Microsoft and Sun Microsystems.

On a recent-vintage PC or Mac, the odds are in your favor, at least initially. The best defense against this kind of attack is to remove the vulnerable runtime engine so that it can’t be exploited. A presentation by Kaspersky’s Kurt Baumgartner at the VB2011 conference called out “the recent explosion in prevalence of both client-side Java exploitation and Android malware development,” and in a separate October 2011 blog post, Baumgartner noted that Java exploits had taken over the #1 spot on the list. In the second quarter of 2011, Kaspersky Labs researchers listed two “Highly Critical” Java vulnerabilities in their top 10 list (six of the remaining eight entries on the list involved Adobe Flash Player). Indeed, as operating system vendors get better about patching their own flaws, malware authors are increasingly turning to third-party code to get their dirty work done, and Java is high on the list. That infection typically includes a component that can download additional malware later, also without warning. Even if your operating system is fully up to date, an unpatched vulnerability in that third-party code can lead to havoc.Īs the Mac community discovered, a user can go to a perfectly legitimate site, be infected with absolutely no warning, and have untrusted code running on the box. That’s the problem with exploits that target vulnerabilities in cross-platform runtimes like Flash Player and the Java Runtime Engine (JRE). The criminals who successfully infected 600,000 Macs with the Flashback malware (aka Flashfake) could just as easily have trained their guns on Windows or Linux users. You can protect yourself by disabling the Java plugin from your browser(s) or removing Java completely.

#Is java 8 safe for mac update

Update January 10, 2013: A zero-day exploit is in the wild, attacking fully patched versions of Java.