Impact of the October 2012 Java Update to Mac OS X Snow Leopard

Mac users on Mac OS X Snow Leopard (version 10.6.x) received a security update from Apple in October 2012. This update (Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 11) improved security by updating Java SE 6 to 1.6.0_37. You can find more information at Apple's support website.

However, on systems that have not already installed Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 9 or later, this update will configure web browsers to not automatically run Java applets. Java applets may be re-enabled by clicking the region labeled Inactive plug-in on a web page. If no applets have been run for an extended period of time, the Java web plug-in will deactivate.

Users who install this update may have their Java applet disabled, and without an active Java applet, Open Mobile clients will not be able to connect to a VPN.

Users who have installed this security update and have not enabled Java will have the following experience:

• Users who have Hide VPN GUI when launching enabled will not be able to connect to the VPN, and they will not see a notification to enable java. These users should open the Finder and navigate to Application > Utilities > Java Preferences and then check Enable Applet Plug-in and Web Start Applications. After Java has been enabled, the user will be able to connect successfully to the VPN.
• Users who do not have Hide VPN GUI when launching enabled will see an Inactive Plug-in notification. Clicking on the notification will open a dialog box (shown below), and the user should click Enable to enable Java. After Java has been enabled, the user will be able to connect successfully to the VPN.

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