Java may be a constant presence in today's computing landscape, but that's precisely the problem according to a new report, which proclaimed the programming system as the single greatest IT security threat to U.S. computers.
While certainly a bold claim to make, the IT vendor behind the study, the Copenhagen-based Secunia ApS, pointed to Java's volume of security flaws, lagging patch status for those vulnerabilities and the sheer penetration rate the system has over U.S. computer users as to what makes it so potentially dangerous. In 2014 alone, there were 119 new security vulnerabilities discovered on Java, a problem in its own right and one that becomes significantly compounded by the fact that Java can be found on roughly 65 percent of the nation's computers — nearly half of whom haven't updated their software with the latest security patches to protect against those vulnerabilities.
"This is not because Java is more difficult to patch, but the program has a high market share and a lot of the users neglect to patch the program, even though a patch is available," said Kasper Lingaard, director of research and security for Secunia ApS, in an official statement, noting that while only private computers were surveyed, business networks could be equally affected too. "There is no reason to assume that the patch status is any different on corporate end user devices that are not rigorously controlled and patched by the IT team."
Luckily, for developers looking to integrate their familiar and preferred apps within a more modernized architecture, Java is not the only answer. Implementing a pure mainframe terminal emulator can help improve access to mainframe applications, making them cloud-compliant and browser-friendly.