Many complain about Java’s security, something Oracle is currently looking to improve. It certainly doesn’t help however that many users are using rather old versions, according to a report.

The analysis conducted by WebSense shows more than 50 percent of users run a version more than two years old. In fact, the study shows 75 percent are at least six months behind.

It is vital to stay updated, especially given over the last few months hackers have been utilising Java-based exploits to gain unauthorised access and cause all kinds of mischief.

This year alone, Oracle has already fixed 97 security flaws. April’s patch cleared 42 issues, yet only seven percent of users are thought to have installed the update.

Antivirus software vendor Avast’s CTO, Ondrej Vlcek, says only four percent of its users surveyed in March are running the latest version.

So why aren’t users updating? It’s easy to point at lack of awareness, but other issues could be at hand, especially in the enterprise. Certain applications require a set version of Java which could actually be “broken” through patches.

Guess companies need to decide whether security or compatibility is more of an issue.

There’s also the issue of a non-competent update by Oracle themselves, requiring administrator privileges to update which many users do not have access to, or like me this morning, a “failure to download” even with a stable internet connection and administrator status.

Ross Barrett, a senior manager of security engineering at Rapid7, says: “The average end user in finance or marketing will think security told me not to click on things so I won’t do it.”

It’s time to be honest, are you currently running the latest version of Java? Is the blame on Oracle, users, or both?