Breakfast Briefing: Office 365 University, online crime costs and Apple removing Java from OS X

This morning’s technology stories include how more than half of UK surfers have been targeted by online criminals, Microsoft’s latest Office 365 offering and Apple gets tough on Java.

Microsoft announces Office 365 University

No, it’s not a school for learning Word and Excel (that’s the current ICT curriculum – ho ho ho), but rather a special four-year subscription to Office 365 to last the duration of a university degree. In the US, the cost will be a flat $80, and that gets you Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher and Access, along with an extra 20GB of SkyDrive storage and 60 world minutes on Skype a month. That price allows installation on two PCs as well, which makes it a pretty good deal from where we’re standing (at the bar – snakebite and black, please. Cheers.)

Getsafeonline reveals £249 cost of cybercrimes

It’s Get Safe Online Week, so we can expect plenty of statistics showing how dodgy the web is while trying to convince grannies up and down the country they should be applying for their bus passes online. According to the research launched to raise awareness, more than half of UK surfers have been targeted by online criminals, with victims losing, on average, £247 in successful attacks.

“Online crime can be a threat to each and every one of us in the UK,” said GetSafeOnline CEO Tony Neate. “But don’t forget, the internet is a brilliant place that allows us to do great things, so people shouldn’t feel like they can’t enjoy all of its benefits.” Don’t have nightmares, do sleep well.

Computer booted up for first time in nine years

A computer first used in 1962 by the University of London has been brought back to life in a garden shed in Kent. The ICT1301 computer – better known as a Flossie – hasn’t been turned on in nine years, but Roger Holmes and Rod Brown have it running again. The 20x22ft, five-ton beast once showed up as a prop in Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun.

Apple bins Java over security fears

Apple is taking action over security threats in Java by removing old versions of it when users update their Mac operating systems. Apple previously shipped Java with installations of Mac OS X, but announced on its site that customers need to go directly to Oracle for a download if they want to use Java.

“This update uninstalls the Apple-provided Java applet plug-in from all web browsers,” the company said. “To use applets on a web page, click on the region labelled ‘Missing plug-in’ to go download the latest version of the Java applet plug-in from Oracle.”

Fake phone leads to red faces

Technology news editors and bloggers have been dealt another sharp lesson, forced to eat humble pie after publishing images of a Sony Nexus phone that turned out to be fake. According to the creator of the fake images, more than 1,000 articles ensued. TechCrunch goes some way to explaining why it fell for the fake images, claiming they were the non Nexus X “was no rushed Photoshop job — the faux-Nexus render was peppered with components and design flourishes from plenty of existing hardware”.

Obviously there’s a sense of relief among sites that didn’t cover the issue, but the faker did have one surprising revelation after the bandwagon finally crashed. “One slightly off-putting thing about this entire episode was that not a single soul made any attempts to contact the owner of the Picasa album. Seriously. Not one comment reaching out,” Ti Kawamoto reported in his explanation of events.