Oracle Releases New Java Patch

Earlier last week, Oracle released a patch for their Java web programming code aimed to resolve certain flaws hackers were exploiting. If you’ve been keeping up with news surrounding Oracle, you may be aware that a number of hacker attacks have been made through their Java programming language. This raised concerns of several digital security firms worldwide. In an effort to prevent further attacks, Oracle has released a Java patch to fix the flaw being exploited by hackers. To learn more about this recent patch and whether or not it worked, keep reading.

Did The Patch Work?

Apparently, researchers are saying the patch did in fact fix two errors that were being exploited by hackers to cause malicious attacks. With that said, the Java 7 patch also opened up several other vulnerabilities. I guess you could compare Oracle’s recent patch to a “double-edged sword” in the sense that it fixed one problem but opened up another.

Thankfully, there is good news with the recent Java patch by Oracle. All of those malicious attacks being carried out by hackers are now stopped. These attacks, known as the “Zero-Day Attacks,” were done by hackers in an effort to phish for private information. To do this, they would send out fake emails asking the user to click on a hyperlink. Once the user clicked on the link, they were taken to a malicious web address that used a vulnerability in Java to automatically install software on their computer without their knowledge. This software could then be used to access all of the user’s data, as well as the data on any device connected to their network. As you can expect, this is a pretty serious flaw that needed to be addressed in a timely manner.

Because Oracle was able to release the Java 7 patch so quickly, analysts say they had patch ready for months. So, if Oracle had the patch ready, why didn’t they release it? Well, patches need to be ran through a quality assurance team to ensure they work and don’t break other parts of the system, and it’s likely that Oracle was doing this for their Java 7 patch.

It’s unclear as to when Oracle will release another patch aimed at fixing the current vulnerabilities opened up by their most recent Java 7 patch. However, security analysts are saying it needs to be soon, as hackers could potentially utilize those for yet another series of attacks. In any case, be aware of phishing emails when you’re checking your inbox.