Java 0 day vulnerability in the wild

There is currently a Java 0-day vulnerability being exploited in the wild. Currently, disabling Java is your only option.

See here: http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/01/10/new-java-vulnerability-is-being-exploited-in-the-wild-disabling-java-is-currently-your-only-option/ for the full story and http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/01/14/java_zero_day_exploit_don_t_patch_just_disable_java_in_your_browser.html for recent developments.

Here are the links to disable Java Applets by default in Firefox and Chrome. It's not ideal but it's the only known solution at the moment until Oracle releases a patch for Java. (speaking to those who sometimes need to use Java based VPN clients for their work).

Firefox: http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/How%20to%20turn%20off%20Java%20applets
Chrome: http://www.podfeet.com/wordpress/tutorials/how-to-disable-java-in-chrome/
Internet Explorer (and other browsers): http://www.java.com/en/download/help/disable_browser.xml

Good luck. Once Java pushes an update, you can re-enable Java applets by default.