WARNING: JUNK AHEAD
Junk offender: Java
Java’s safety reputation ranks somewhere up there with thin ice and half-cooked chicken, but is it deserved?
Not entirely. Java itself is not malicious. It’s just a software component. But Java (that’s Java Runtime Environment, not to be confused with Javascript, Java coffee or Java the fifth largest island in Indonesia) is easily and regularly exploited by hackers. I almost feel sorry for it. But then this week I tried installing it, and how did it thank me for giving it a chance? By bundling a Yahoo PUP.
I needed Java so I could test Data Crow ( www.datacrow.net), one of an everdecreasing circle of programs that require Java. Data Crow is an excellent free tool for cataloguing collections – anything from book collections to the hoard of toy soldiers in your loft – and it was a shoo-in for this issue’s What Should I Download? (see page 19). But even its installer won’t run without Java. So I headed to the official Java website ( www.java.com), launched the setup wizard, and – oh, here we go.
Yahoo’s browser hijacker (‘default search, homepage and new tab page’) is pre-selected in the wizard (see screenshot). What troubled me more was the ambiguous wording under the opt-out. Does clicking Next opt you into Yahoo, even if you’ve clicked ‘Do not update browser settings’?
Only one way to find out. I created a system restore point, selected the opt-out, then clicked Next. After a restart, there was no sign of Yahoo in my browser, and Malwarebytes Adwcleaner didn’t find any junk. Phew.
So should we all dive in and use Java after all? No. Security implications aside, I won’t recommend any software that bundles junk. This stuff isn’t plain old advertising – it’s adware that forcibly changes the browser settings of anyone who doesn’t know a PUP when they see one. It is exploitation of inexperienced users, and there is no excuse for it.
BT has offered to spend £600m to provide 10Mbps to 1m rural premises by 2020 It’s likely to recoup its costs by charging Sky and Talktalk more money to use the Openreach network The Government has said that taxpayers won’t fund the extra investment