‘Outdated Java Plugin Detected’ Pop-Up

The 'Outdated Java Plugin Detected' pop-up is a fake pop-up notification used to install harmful and unwanted programs on your computer. While malware researchers often encourage updating Java, for a multitude of reasons, installing random Java updates from an 'Outdated Java Plugin Detected' pop-up is more likely to compromise your PC than almost any other action you can take. Since some variants of the 'Outdated Java Plugin Detected' pop-up may include additional attacks that don't require your permission to install their payloads, using anti-malware programs to analyze your PC is encouraged after any kind of passing encounter with an 'Outdated Java Plugin Detected' pop-up.

The Java Plugin that Plugs an Infection into Your PC

The 'Outdated Java Plugin Detected' pop-up is a browser-based attack that's loaded through sites like updatelearn.com, a recently-registered domain used for threat distribution. Most sites associated with hosting 'Outdated Java Plugin Detected' pop-ups have yet to be added to the majority of threat domain blacklists that security products use to protect your browser from these attacks. However, malware researchers can recommend several, other ways of blocking 'Outdated Java Plugin Detected' pop-ups, such as disabling scripts and using anti-malware tools that happen to have heuristic Web security features.

Although there are plentiful reasons for updating Java, which is a programming language in vogue for the design of software and websites, the 'Outdated Java Plugin Detected' pop-up takes advantage of this simple truth to turn a would-be update into an attack. Although the people behind the 'Outdated Java Plugin Detected' pop-up have designed this pop-up to look identical in format to a legitimate Java update, the enclosed includes threats instead of a Java patch.

Besides the website in question being unaffiliated with Oracle, there's another telltale sign of the 'Outdated Java Plugin Detected' pop-up being fraudulent: the fact that the 'Outdated Java Plugin Detected' pop-up always will detect your version of Java as outdated. If, for some reason, you're uncertain about whether a Java update request like the 'Outdated Java Plugin Detected' pop-up is legitimate or fake, malware researchers would recommend closing the link, verifying your currently-installed version of Java, and, if needed, navigating to an Oracle-endorsed download source. Oracle's own Java.com website will suffice for both of the latter steps.

Getting the Best of an Old School Threat Attack with New PC Security

The 'Outdated Java Plugin Detected' pop-up is quite similar to other Java-themed attacks that malware researchers have come across in the past few years, such as the 'No Java Detected' pop-up alert, the 'Java Software Critical Update' pop-up alert or the 'Update the latest Java version' pop-up alert. However, the 'Outdated Java Plugin Detected' pop-up is one of the newest of these PC threats, and may include additional attacks to circumvent your PC's innate security features. By default, any contact with the 'Outdated Java Plugin Detected' pop-up should be considered the same as contact with an infection vector that could contaminate your computer, and this remains true for PC users who are canny enough to reject its fake update.

Since the 'Outdated Java Plugin Detected' pop-up is an especially new attack, the threat being distributed by the 'Outdated Java Plugin Detected' pop-up still remains under investigation. Although such attacks may be responsible for obvious threat-based tactics like fake Registry cleaners or Ukash Viruses, malware researchers warn that they also are common elements in the installation of stealthy threat categories. As a result, you shouldn't rely on anything other than potent anti-malware tools to detect potential threats that are caused by the 'Outdated Java Plugin Detected' pop-up or other fake Java-updating downloads.