Yesterday, Apple released a new version of Java for Mac OS/X that fixes a number of security flaws, including some that Sun, the originator of Java, fixed about six months ago. Proof-of-concept exploits have been released for at least one severe vulnerability, so I recommend that Mac users install the new version as soon as they can. The details of the fixes are given in the “Apple Security Updates” bulletin. You can get the new version either via Apple’s Software Update function, or by downloading it from the Support Download page. Note that there are two different updates, depending on which version of OS/X you are running.
Brian Krebs at the Washington Post also has an article on this in his “Security Fix” blog.
