Is Java the new threat?

We all know what Java is to our computing experience. With Java installed on your computer or mobile device, you can play games online, chat with people around the world, view images in 3D, calculate your mortgage interest, and this is just but to mention a few.

What is Java?

Java is the powerful programming or technical language that allows computer programmers to write a wide variety of Internet applications and other software programs that can runs on just about any computer's Operating System. Java is also the computing platform, or the underlying technology that powers state-of-the-art programs including utilities, games and business applications.

The new threat

Late on Thursday, 10^th, this month, the US Department of Homeland Security advised US citizen to temporarily disable Java on their web browsers. As sources state, this was a followup by concerns raised by computer security experts.

There were no immediate comments from Oracle Corp, which is the current owner of Java, until late Friday, when Oracle released a statement saying that: "A fix will be available shortly."

So what is the actual problem?

According to security experts, hackers had found a flaw in Java's coding and figured out how to exploit the bug in a version of Java used with Internet browsers to install malicious software on PCs. This has enabled them to commit crimes from identity theft to making an infected computer part of an ad-hoc computer network that can be used to attack websites.

Oracle, which acquired Sun Microsystems in 2009, is supposed to release Java updates next week starting tomorrow. But before this more than 850 million PCs, number of computers that use Java, are at risk if they do not disable or uninstall the plug-in immediately.

Right now, I have Java disabled on my PC until further notice. What about you?