Oracle calls time to sort out Java security

Oracle's senior security principal of Java has pledged to sort out programming language Java's increasingly battered reputation for security.

The promise was made during a conference call (mp3) between the Java User Group and the head of security for Java at Oracle, Milton Smith, last week.

According to Smith, "the plan for Java security is really simple: it's to get Java fixed up, number one, and number two, to communicate our efforts widely."

"We really can't have one without the other, " Smith said, adding that no amount of talking or smoothing over the issue will help.

The focus will be on Java in the browser, as that's where Oracle has seen the most of the security weaknesses, Smith said.

A communications plan will be developed to improve upon past lack of openness, but Smith didn't offer any specifics as to how that will be done or the security improvements in store.

Java — which Oracle obtained as part if its acquisition of Sun Microsystems — has come under fire lately due to numerous security holes and the slow response to issuing patches, which in some cases turn out to be inadequate to sort out the problems.

Security organisations currently recommend users to disable Java in their browsers, or to remove the software completely if it isn't needed.