The bug that is causing this is in the Java runtime from Oracle (formerly Sun).
If you want to avoid it, you need to uninstall the Java runtime (JRE).
It is not being caused by having Javascript enabled in the browser.
Javascript != Java!
The chief financial officer of the company relies on cloudy applications that require Java-in-the-web-browser.
How to disable Java in your web browser
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By now you have probably heard about a new Java vulnerability that is been actively exploited on the Internet. I do not want to rehash all that has been said, and would like to suggest articles on ZDnet and Securelist for that which should provide you with an overview of the threat. Only that much: only Java 7.x is affected by the vulnerability.
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However according to the article this thread started with,,,,,more than just java version 7 is suspect....
I have tried to clean up the links...i think I got them working.