On February 1, Oracle released a Critical Patch Update to its latest Java version; patching over 50 vulnerabilities, which included one specifically malicious bug that the hackers were actively exploiting in the wild.

Though the critical update to the latest Java version was earlier scheduled by Oracle for February 19, the company decided to expedite the release of the patch set for the vulnerabilities chiefly because of mounting pressure to mitigate the flaws in Java 7 Update 13 which were reportedly being abused by hackers.

Pointing out that one of the flaws was causing problems as it was being actively exploited by the hackers, Oracle said that it had decided to issue the Critical Patch Update two weeks ahead of the scheduled date, rather than resorting to a Security Alert to release a one-off fix, so that the system security could be preserved more effectively.

In addition, Oracle also said that, out of the over 50 vulnerabilities which have been patched in the recent update, 44 only affect Java in browsers; thereby implying that these 44 flaws can only be exploited on desktops, either via Java Web Start applications or through Java applets.

Meanwhile, about Java being frequently targeted by hackers, Eric Maurice - manager of Oracle Global Technology Business Unit - said: "The popularity of the Java Runtime Environment in desktop browsers, and the fact that Java in browsers is OS-independent, makes Java an attractive target for malicious hackers."