News

Sun Changing Java Security Patch Procedure

Sun issued an announcement this week that it's going to start releasing patches for its various Java Standard Edition (SE) versions.

"For the first time, critical security fixes will be released simultaneously for the Java SE 6, J2SE 5.0, and J2SE 1.4.2 versions of the Java SE platform," the announcement stated. The current release of Sun's programming platform is Java SE 6.

Those looking for an update to J2SE 1.3.1 will have to wait. According to Sun, that version will be incorporated into the patch program next year. However, Sun is making a conscious effort to extend its patch schedule to users of older versions of the platform.

"The advent of synchronized security fixes is welcome news for consumers and enterprise administrators running on older operating systems, or other software requiring the use of older versions of the Java platform," Sun's announcement stated. "These individuals will now have the opportunity to receive and install synchronized updates with all the same critical fixes as in the latest release."

The company also has plans to preannouce the patches on its Sun Security Blog.

Announcements on planned updates will be posted "up to a week" before the patches go live. However, there's no regular schedule for the updates as the patches will come as needed, according to Sun's statement.

To view Sun's official announcement, go here.

About the Author

Becky Nagel is a contributor to Application Development Trends. She is the editor of ADT's sister sites CertCities.com, TCPmag.com and Redmondmag.com, and is co-editor of RCPmag.com. You can contact her at [email protected].