Java flash and browser plugins.

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Fri Nov 15, 2013 3:54 pm

Apparently after doing much research it turns out that Java is pretty much useless on home computers unless your into applet writing and to make matters worse Java browser plug-ins are being targeted more now than ever because the program and it's browser plug-in are easily hijacked through the use of a malicious applets which take advantage of the way the program will run any Java applet regardless of security scripts or even if the applet is from a reliable source.I've disabled my Java browser plug-in and am only using Adobe's flash player at the moment and everything seems to be fine.I'll report back in a few days with any details on what will and wont run now that Java is no longer running on my browser.

Laurie LeAnn · Post by **Laurie LeAnn** » Sat Nov 16, 2013 2:32 pm

Will have to let Monica know at the library

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Sun Nov 17, 2013 6:34 am

@Laurie, the thing with Java exploits is that they typically attack businesses that do banking or that specifically transmit critical data through Java applets and yes Libraries do qualify as a business though they are not generally targeted for various reasons.Most home computers that run Java do not need it to function and this is how many Ransom-ware/Scare-Ware viruses such as fake anti viruses/ The Money Pak virus and more than a few of the false FBI extortion viruses get onto private home computers through no action of the user.If you have ever been hit with any these kinds of viruses then Java played a critical role in allowing it to happen.

jenok · Post by **jenok** » Thu Nov 21, 2013 4:43 am

Any updates? Is everything still running smoothely?

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Thu Nov 21, 2013 7:47 am

@Jenok, sorry for not getting back to this thread sooner, I've had a lot on my plate lately.As for the update its been a week or so since I've disabled Java flash in my browser and it has not had a negative impact at all as Youtube doesn't use Java flash and from what I've seen no other website that uses flash even bothers with the Java platform.lolSo far Adobe and HTML5 are the only two types of flash that I've encountered so it seems that Java has essentially been worse than useless the whole time I've been using it....

jenok · Post by **jenok** » Mon Nov 25, 2013 3:04 am

Thanks I'll try to make note of that for future reference.

Keg · Post by **Keg** » Mon Nov 25, 2013 4:27 pm

Crabber85Can you recommend a good "babysitting" program that reveals if data is being sent out without you knowing?

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Tue Nov 26, 2013 5:07 am

@Keg, I use Online Armor and it has a good sand boxing program that allows for monitoring of programs but you have to create the list of programs you want monitored and then it will watch the incoming and outgoing data traffic.

Keg · Post by **Keg** » Tue Nov 26, 2013 6:09 am

Thanks.Watching traffic is what I want.I've heard "they" can sneak in through a router. Even if it is password protected, the manufacturer hard-codes in a password. So...they can zip right past the firewall.

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Tue Nov 26, 2013 6:36 am

@Keg, yeah most routers and even modems can be broken into remotely and all the attack needs is a good ip sniffing program that will detect your isp numbers and then will issue a fake certificate and act like its the vendor sending the requested update or what have you which allows the attacker direct access to your computer because the computer sees the certificate thinks its real and so assumes that the data accompanying the certificate is also real.It's actually really easy to bypass a router or modems built in firewall by exploiting the programs that are allowed to communicate in and out which is why having a secondary firewall like Online Armor is critical to protecting your machine.With a good fire wall on your machine you can sand box all programs that have access to your OS and can change it thereby protecting your computer from unauthorized changes within the BIOS, OS and hard drive.It has been found that 99% of commercially available routers use default WEP pass keys are not actually protected because WEP keys are so easy to break using a common sniffing program so if your router is hacked and your using the default WEP key you can not prosecute because your router is considered to be unprotected according to new federal regulations and laws.WEP2 or WEP3 pass keys are considered to be more secure since they use a higher level of alpha numeric encryption making them much much harder to crack.This is the scariest thing if you can log into your router using your ISP address then so can anyone else who can see your ISP numbers which basically makes having a pass key worse than useless....