Removing Java may reduce the risk a little, but so does removing all source of power to the machine.
A half decent router with a firewall and good browsing habits should keep you out of trouble.
How does your machine fare on the Gibson Research "Shields Up" tests?
https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2
Hopefully all your ports should be stealthed and so not visible to to the Internet for casual port scanning.
It seems that virus activity is likely to be less of a problem to Apple Corp than the decisions of their board of directors, as the iPhone releases become more frequent and the shine begins to fade. When you get to the top, the only way seems to be down . . .
The newly released Samsung Galaxy S4 can apparently be controlled by the eyes . . . sounds like a bit of an early April fools gag, but I guess that they saw that one coming. Not a lot of use with your veil on then . . .
= = =
Flashback, the door was of course opened by the decision by Apple to do away with Adobe Flash upon their platforms, culminating in that famous spat a while back between senior execs of Apple and Adobe. Not that Adobe helped to make Apple the graphics platform that it is/was today.
Now that they have got rid of Google Maps and replaced it with their own offering . . . Oh, did that tank too then? Why did they think that they could do overnight what it took Google eight years to get to the state that it is in today. So people looking to get Google Maps back onto their machines will be a group ripe for exploitation before very long, unless it's been happening already.
Arguably it is Apple that is digging these holes and others are all too willing to recognise them and drop a few spikes or a bear trap into the bottom of them for the unwise and unwary.
