U.S. tells computer users to disable Java software

Alright.... people, it is 2013. "Programming language" and "software" are household terms now. Please, this isn't NCIS. Use proper terminology or don't try to scaremonger.

That aside, most browsers (Chrome I know for a fact, Firefox I think as well, IE is an abomination anyway) already ask the user for permission before they run a java applet on a page to begin with. This happens before the program has any chance whatsoever to exploit whatever flaws the hacker found. So there is really nothing to worry about here. Just don't allow applets to run until Oracle has a chance to fix the exploit (which, I'll admit, is a rather serious one)

Source: http://www.news.theusalinks.com/2013/01/11/u-s-tells-computer-users-to-disable-java-software/