Does anyone know anything about Java security

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I am not a computer whiz but I have been advised that Java has got some serious security issues and I have some questions for those who know more about this. Specifically I have heard that the older versions of Java had huge security flaws that would make your computer vulnerable to hacking. As I understand there were updates to Java to try and cover these security flaws.

The issue came up today at work. I work with a big organization that has hundreds or thousands of computers. The organization deals with critical data that has important safety and privacy aspects and a security breach would be devastating. One of their programs would not work on my computer and when I called tech support I was told "our program is not compatible with the latest version of Java, you need to un-install Java and then re-install the earlier version of Java". When I called the tech support guy on this he admitted that it made no sense but said that he doesn't make the decisions, upper management does.

My understanding is if I do this I am exposing my computer to hacking etc. Not only that but if the hundreds to thousands of computers in this organization are running the older version of Java then they have got a serious security problem.

Anyway I need some feedback from someone who knows more about this before I take the issue up with someone in management. I don't want to raise this as a serious security issue if it really is not.