On Thursday, we reported the potentially scary news about a Java-based Mac trojan that has infected upwards of 600,000 computers. Now Apple has released its second update to Java this week, but no one seems to know exactly what it does.
MacRumors is reporting that Apple has released a second Java update this week, a 66.6MB download called Java for OS X 2012-002. The move comes on the heels of yesterday’s news that a new Flashback trojan may have infected as many as 600,000 Mac computers worldwide, which is being spread through a vulnerability in Java.
Apple’s earlier Java for OS X Lion 2012-001 update apparently plugged this hole, while users concerned about being infected can copy and paste a few commands into Terminal to not only find but eradicate the trojan.
The real mystery is, what does this new Java for OS X 2012-002 do? Apple’s support document simply points to the same web page as the first patch this week, and Software Update simply claims the usual “improved compatibility, security and reliability by updating Java SE 6 to 1.6.0_31.” It’s also recommended to quit any web browsers and Java applications prior to installing the new update.
In any event, users are encouraged to apply the second patch via Software Update on all Macs you own -- after all, better safe than sorry, right?
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