Apple Launches Java Update for Mac OS X Users to Deal with Issue Malware Hackers Exploited

By: Jeff Stewart  |   February 21st, 2013   |   Apple, iOS, Mobile Apps, News

Earlier Apple announced that due to a Java vulnerability some hackers breached its security and caused damage to some of its computers but no data was comprised. To deal with this kind of cyber attack in the future Apple has announced that it will launch a software tool which will fight against malware. The Cupertino-based company has kept it’s promise and launched the update on Wednesday, February 20, 2013 for the users of Mac OS X that offers better security for people who are running Java on their computers. The latest update will fix the vulnerability that hackers used to infect the systems of Apple’s employees.

 

Users of Mac OS X can find the update under Software Update segment of the Mac App Store or they can find it in the Apple menu. This patch will update Mac OS X users’ Java to the 1.6.0_41 edition an if the OS X is running a version of Java lower than 2012-006 then, according to TNW, “the Java SE 6 plug-in is blocked entirely.”

 

Here is details of the newly updated patch from Apple:

 

“This release updates the Apple-provided system Java SE 6 to version 1.6.0_41 and is for OS X versions 10.7 or later.

 

This update uninstalls the Apple-provided Java applet plug-in from all web browsers. To use applets on a webpage, click on the region labeled “Missing plug-in” to go download the latest version of the Java applet plug-in from Oracle.

 

This update also removes the Java Preferences application, which is no longer required to configure applet settings.”

 

Below is the security info, which verifies that the new update can fix the vulnerability hackers exploited. It is important to note here that these problems were fixed for OS X 10.6 few weeks ago, but to the extent 10.7 and 10.8 are concerned this issue still prevails till today:

 

“Multiple vulnerabilities existed in Java 1.6.0_37, the most serious of which may allow an untrusted Java applet to execute arbitrary code outside the Java sandbox. Visiting a web page containing a maliciously crafted untrusted Java applet may lead to arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the current user. These issues were addressed by updating to Java version 1.6.0_41. For Mac OS X v10.6 systems, these issues were addressed in Java for Mac OS X v10.6 Update 13.”

 

Time after time Apple has suggested its users to disable or discard Java plugin, if they are not using it. Even recently Apple has disabled Java on Mac OS X 10.7 and high-level computers to protect its consumers from Java issues similar to the one it has just experienced.

 

Source: TNW