Syntax error?

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Firefox is giving me a very constant error message. Any ideas?

[upnorth]

I would dump all temp internet files, it that doesn't do it you may need to re install java.

[Moose]

What is java? As Wish has noticed it corrupts quite often for me also.

[Whoaru99]

Java is a programming language that facilitates applications to run across different platforms using the Java virtual machine.

If you have problems with Java I'd look in your "Add/Remove Programs" XP or "Programs and Features" Win7, and uninstall all versions of Java you find then go download and install the most current version from Sun.

[MN Mike]

Timely info just released, might be what's effecting your system.

"Following news that a Java 0-day has been rolled into exploit kits, without any patch to fix the vulnerability, Mozilla and Apple have blocked the latest versions of Java on Firefox and Mac OS X respectively. Mozilla has taken steps to protect its user base from the yet-unpatched vulnerability. Mozilla has added to its Firefox add-on block-list: Java 7 Update 10, Java 7 Update 9, Java 6 Update 38 and Java 6 Update 37. Similar steps have also been taken by Apple; it has updated its anti-malware system to only allow version 1.7.10.19 or higher, thereby automatically blocking the vulnerable version, 1.7.10.18."

Mike

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Timely info just released, might be what's effecting your system.

"Following news that a Java 0-day has been rolled into exploit kits, without any patch to fix the vulnerability, Mozilla and Apple have blocked the latest versions of Java on Firefox and Mac OS X respectively. Mozilla has taken steps to protect its user base from the yet-unpatched vulnerability. Mozilla has added to its Firefox add-on block-list: Java 7 Update 10, Java 7 Update 9, Java 6 Update 38 and Java 6 Update 37. Similar steps have also been taken by Apple; it has updated its anti-malware system to only allow version 1.7.10.19 or higher, thereby automatically blocking the vulnerable version, 1.7.10.18."

Mike

So based on this, what do I do?

[Dbl]

From tonights Star Tribune;

Quote:

Department of Homeland Security advises computer users to disable Java because of security bug

Article by: Associated Press

Updated: January 11, 2013 - 8:52 PM

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is advising people to temporarily disable the Java software on their computers to avoid potential hacking attacks.

The recommendation came in an advisory issued late Thursday, following up on concerns raised by computer security experts.

Experts believe hackers have found a flaw in Java's coding that creates an opening for criminal activity and other high-tech mischief.

Java is a widely used technical language that allows computer programmers to write a wide variety of Internet applications and other software programs that can run on just about any computer's operating system.

Oracle Corp. bought Java as part of a $7.3 billion acquisition of the software's creator, Sun Microsystems, in 2010.

Oracle, which is based in Redwood Shores, Calif., had no immediate comment late Friday.

What I did was uninstall my latest version of Java and installed an earlier version.

[MN Mike]

In the very least, disable Java as an add-on to your web browser, better yet, do as dbl did if you can.

Mike

[MN Mike]

In the past it's always been my ' gut ' feeling that Adobe and Java products have been the main reason people got infected.

Here's a good read on what could happen ( and probably has happened to some folks ) if you don't fix the Java issue soon, it's called ransomware.

In the past year, hundreds of thousands of people across the world have switched on their computers to find distressing messages alerting them that they no longer have access to their PCs or any of the files on them.

The messages claim to be from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, some 20 other law enforcement agencies across the globe or, most recently, Anonymous, a shadowy group of hackers. The computer users are told that the only way to get their machines back is to pay a steep fine.

And, curiously, it’s working. The scheme is making more than $5 million a year, according to computer security experts who are tracking them.

The scourge dates to 2009 in Eastern Europe. Three years later, with business booming, the perpetrators have moved west. Security experts say that there are now more than 16 gangs of sophisticated criminals extorting millions from victims across Europe.

The threat, known as ransomware, recently hit the United States. Some gangs have abandoned previously lucrative schemes, like fake antivirus scams and banking trojans, to focus on ransomware full time.

Essentially online extortion, ransomware involves infecting a user’s computer with a virus that locks it. The attackers demand money before the computer will be unlocked, but once the money is paid, they rarely unlock it.

In the vast majority of cases, victims do not regain access to their computer unless they hire a computer technician to remove the virus manually. And even then, they risk losing all files and data because the best way to remove the virus is to wipe the computer clean.

It may be hard to fathom why anyone would agree to fork over hundreds of dollars to a demanding stranger, but security researchers estimate that 2.9 percent of compromised computer owners take the bait and pay. That, they say, is an extremely conservative estimate. In some countries, the payout rate has been as high as 15 percent.

That people do fall for it is a testament to criminals’ increasingly targeted and inventive methods. Early variations of ransomware locked computers, displayed images of pornography and, in Russian, demanded a fee — often more than $400 — to have it removed. Current variants are more targeted and toy with victims’ consciences.

Researchers say criminals now use victims’ Internet addresses to customize ransom notes in their native tongue. Instead of pornographic images, criminals flash messages from local law enforcement agencies accusing them of visiting illegal pornography, gambling or piracy sites and demand they pay a fine to unlock their computer.

Victims in the United States see messages in English purporting to be from the F.B.I. or Justice Department. In the Netherlands, people get a similar message, in Dutch, from the local police. (Some Irish variations even demand money in Gaelic.) The latest variants speak to victims through recorded audio messages that tell users that if they do not pay within 48 hours, they will face criminal charges. Some even show footage from a computer’s webcam to give the illusion that law enforcement is watching.

The messages often demand that victims buy a preloaded debit card that can be purchased at a local drugstore — and enter the PIN. That way it’s impossible for victims to cancel the transaction once it becomes clear that criminals have no intention of unlocking their PC.

The hunt is on to find these gangs. Researchers at Symantec said they had identified 16 ransomware gangs. They tracked one gang that tried to infect more than 500,000 PCs over an 18-day period. But even if researchers can track their Internet addresses, catching and convicting those responsible can be difficult. It requires cooperation among global law enforcement, and such criminals are skilled at destroying evidence.

Charlie Hurel, an independent security researcher based in France, was able to hack into one group’s computers to discover just how gullible their victims could be. On one day last month, the criminals’ accounting showed that they were able to infect 18,941 computers, 93 percent of all attempts. Of those who received a ransom message that day, 15 percent paid. In most cases, Mr. Hurel said, hackers demanded 100 euros, making their haul for one day’s work more than $400,000.

That is significantly more than hackers were making from fake antivirus schemes a few years ago, when so-called “scareware” was at its peak and criminals could make as much as $158,000 in one week.

Scareware dropped significantly last year after a global clampdown by law enforcement and private security researchers. Internecine war between scareware gangs put the final nail in the coffin. As Russian criminal networks started fighting for a smaller share of profits, they tried to take each other out with denial of service attacks.

Now, security researchers are finding that some of the same criminals who closed down scareware operations as recently as a year ago are back deploying ransomware.

“Things went quiet,” said Eric Chien, a researcher at Symantec who has been tracking ransomware scams. “Now we are seeing a sudden ramp-up of ransomware using similar methods.”

Victims become infected in many ways. In most cases, people visit compromised Web sites that download the program to their machines without so much as a click. Criminals have a penchant for infecting pornography sites because it makes their law enforcement threats more credible and because embarrassing people who were looking at pornography makes them more likely to pay. Symantec’s researchers say there is also evidence that they are paying advertisers on sex-based sites to feature malicious links that download ransomware onto victims’ machines.

“As opposed to fooling you, criminals are now bullying users into paying them by pretending the cops are banging down their doors,” said Kevin Haley, Symantec’s director of security response.

More recently, researchers at Sophos, a British computer security company, noted that thousands of people were getting ransomware through sites hosted by GoDaddy, the popular Web services company that manages some 50 million domain names and hosts about five million Web sites on its servers.

Sophos said hackers were breaking into GoDaddy users’ accounts with stolen passwords and setting up what is known as a subdomain. So instead of, say, www.nameofsite.com, hackers would set up the Web address blog.nameofsite.com, then send e-mails to customers with the link to the subdomain which — because it appeared to come from a trusted source — was more likely to lure clicks.

Scott Gerlach, GoDaddy’s director of information security operations, said it appeared the accounts had been compromised because account owners independently clicked on a malicious link or were compromised by a computer virus that stole password credentials. He advised users to enable GoDaddy’s two-step authentication option, which sends a second password to users’ cellphones every time they try to log in, preventing criminals from cracking their account with one stolen password and alerting users when they try.

One of the scarier things about ransomware is that criminals can use victims’ machines however they like. While the computer is locked, the criminals can steal passwords and even get into the victims’ online bank accounts.

Security experts warn to never pay the ransom. A number of vendors offer solutions for unlocking machines without paying the ransom, including Symantec, Sophos and F-Secure. The best solution is to visit a local repair shop to wipe the machine clean and reinstall backup files and software.

“This is the new Nigerian e-mail scam,” Mr. Haley said. “We’ll be talking about this for the next two years.”

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: December 7, 2012

An article on Thursday about a new computer threat called ransomware constructed incorrectly a hypothetical Web address incorporating a subdomain. The address would be blog.nameofsite.com, not nameofsite.blog.com. (Subdomain names precede the domain name; they do not follow it.)

[upnorth]

US cert advisory

What I found was there is an issue with Java 1.7 and later.

I have yet to see something definitive about earlier versions being vulnerable or not.

[upnorth]

What sux the most about this is the fact that many business apps run on Java. So disabling may not even be an option.

[CJH]

In the very least, disable Java as an add-on to your web browser, better yet, do as dbl did if you can.

If you want to disable Java, here are some easy to follow instructions I found off of PC Mag.com:

By Neil J. Rubenking January 11, 2013

Disable Java in All Browsers

Last month Oracle released a new Java version, Update 10, that includes a one-stop option for disabling Java in all browsers in the Java Control Panel. Open Control Panel and launch the Java applet. If you don't see it, switch to Classic View (in XP) or small icons (in Vista or Windows 7). Click the Security tab. In previous versions this tab just allowed advanced users to manage Java-related certificates. It now displays a security-level slider and, more important, a single checkbox titled "Enable Java content in the browser." Un-check this box, click OK, and you're done.

Disable Java in One Browser

For security's sake you really should be using the very latest Java version. If you're not, or if you need to enable Java in some browsers but disable it in others, you can do that too.

Using Chrome? Enter chrome://plugins in the browser's address bar. Scroll down to Java and click the link to disable it. That was easy, and a bit simpler than Oracle's recommended steps.

The process is similar in Opera, which Oracle's page doesn't mention. First, enter about:config in the address bar. Click the Java heading to expand that section, un-check the checkbox, and click the Save button. In Safari, choose Preferences, choose Security, and deselect Enable Java.

The only way to disable Java in Internet Explorer is through the Java Control Panel. Launch it as described above, click the Advanced tab and expand the item titled Default Java for browsers. Un-check the boxes for Microsoft Internet Explorer. You may need to click the item and press spacebar in order to clear the checkmarks.

Firefox users can click the Firefox button at the top and choose Add-ons from the resulting menu. On the Plugins tab, click the Disable button next to "Java Platform." You can also disable Java for all Mozilla family browsers by un-checking the Mozilla family box in the Java control panel.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

I should add that this issue only pertains to my wife's firefox. The pc has two users (her and I) and this issue only happens on hers. I disabled the java plugin in Firefox and it still does it.

I set her up in Chrome and there are no issues. I run Chrome unless I need logmein, in which case I run Firefox. Never have the issue, only she does.

[upnorth]

I would clear all the temp internet files. It seems lame, but there are ones that get cached and don't clear so when a site changes something there becomes a mismatch in requests. There is also a java cached that can be cleared.

How to clear Java cache

A PC/MAC/Smartphone is a lot like a car, works great, but needs a some TLC now and then.

[Nick Kuhn]

In the past it's always been my ' gut ' feeling that Adobe and Java products have been the main reason people got infected.

The main reason people get infected is their own haphazard clicking. Very few people will ever land on a page containing such exploits. They either click something in their email, or get click happy on shady advertisements (especially those that resemble system pop-ups).

As far as the initial problem with java, either the plug-in for Firefox isn't working or Firefox is simply trying to run a bad script (which could be from a number of things, including other add-ons and extensions). A quick reinstall solves most problems with any browser plug-in.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

I would clear all the temp internet files. It seems lame, but there are ones that get cached and don't clear so when a site changes something there becomes a mismatch in requests. There is also a java cached that can be cleared.

How to clear Java cache

A PC/MAC/Smartphone is a lot like a car, works great, but needs a some TLC now and then.

Did it and no change. I happened to be in Facebook when it gave the error this time. Might it be a setting in Facebook?

[Nick Kuhn]

Facebook Chat is pretty poorly written java, but I don't think it should be giving you any issues. Reinstall the firefox plugin completely.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Which plugin?

[Nick Kuhn]

My mistake, Java console isn't a plug-in for Firefox. It still seems odd that it doesn't work for one browser but does for another. It leads me to believe there is a problem with the Firefox install, or some of the extensions you run in Firefox (social fixer perhaps?).