<p>Java has emerged as arguably the No. 1 Web threat -- and you'd be wise to disable it. Java is everywhere. It's the programming language used in billions of Web browsers, smartphones, smart payment cards -- even in TVs and cars.</p><p>No surprise, then, that cybercriminals have been intensively probing Java for security flaws. One way they take advantage is to use Java to force malicious software onto your computing device in what's called a "drive-by download," says Corey Nachreiner, strategy director at WatchGuard.</p><p>Drive-by downloads unfold silently and invisibly. You click on a Web link or visit a Web site booby-trapped to steer you to an infection. The bad guys then steal your account log-ons, contacts and personal information. But they don't stop there. "Once they control your computer, they can access pathways to information and other devices on any network you may be part of," Nachreiner says.</p><p>Java-based attacks have been implicated in data breaches at big media companies such as The New York Times and Wall Street Journal, tech giants such as Google, Twitter and Yahoo, and many big banks.</p><p><a href="http://www.newsfactor.com/news/Disable-Java--Tech-Experts-Say-Yes/story.xhtml?story_id=132004JX5Q9O">Keep reading...</a></p>