running java runtime enviornment on macs

Hi there mac people,

I have had my mac since mid 2009 and its a great piece of machine. My question is this, I installed a mindmap software called free mind on my mac and it needed "java runtime environment" to work. I did not know if my os ver 10.6.8 had it installed or not. I installed the java runtime environment on my machine. I read that this can cause security issues on my mac.


Can anyone comment on this? If this is true can someone please tell me how to remove the java runtime environment that I just installed....

thank you very much

Everything is a potential security leak but yes, Java and Flash are perhaps two of the more notable examples of security holes (or at least as runtimes that make them possible).

Removing Java from OS X isn't easy. In fact, it's near impossible to do it properly. However, you should be fine as long as you're up to date and browser the web intelligently.

If you're thinking specifically about the Flashback trojan, that has been patched through updates.