MS wins biggest cloud computing client

Microsoft has announced its biggest-ever customer for cloud computing after winning a contract to provide free services to a major Indian education body. Microsoft, which was built on the sale of expensive software that is installed on individual computers, has been forced by competition from Google and others to branch out into the fast-growing world of cloud computing.

The US software giant said yesterday it would provide its Live@edu communication and collaboration software to more than seven million students and half a million teachers through a deal with the All India Council for Technical Education.

The service, which Microsoft is providing for free as part of its education initiative, includes e-mail, Office Web applications, instant messaging and storage.

For users, cloud computing is inexpensive and simple, because it removes the need to spend time and money on installing software and managing servers.

Large government departments are prime targets for vendors such as Microsoft and Google.

Apple releases Flashback fix

Apple has released a Java security update, which it says removes the most common variants of the “Flashback” or “Flashfake” virus. The announcement comes after Apple was criticised for its slow response to the security flaw in the Java Web platform, which was exploited by the virus. A reported 600 000 Mac users were affected.

Earlier this week, Apple released two other updates that patched the vulnerability, but the latest update is the first to include a removal tool.

According to Apple, the Java for OS X Lion 2012-003 security update configures the Java Web plug-in to disable the automatic execution of Java applets. Apple recommends the update for all Mac users with Java installed.

Apple’s update is, however, notably late to the party, and numerous security companies have already released tools to help identify infected computers and remove the malware. Kaspersky released a Web site, www.flashbackcheck.com, to help users determine if they were infected, along with the free utility tool Kaspersky Flashback Removal Tool.