Analysis: A business case for security at Google
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Google believes that its consumer-grade Web applications represent the future of enterprise IT. But while Google is quick to trumpet its products' innovative features, the search giant hasn't said much about their security. Until recently, that is.
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Businesses today face a barrage of security threats that require constant vigilance to safeguard the integrity of their critical IT services. Mid-sized businesses are often challenged by tight IT resource constraints, and their central challenge is not just protecting themselves from potential security threats, but doing so within those real-world constraints. Download this whitepaper to see how mid-sized businesses can get the maximum security bang for their security buck.
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The facts of web servers don't necessarily match the myths when it comes to security.
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Security researchers have discovered a serious flaw in Google Inc.'s desktop software that could be used to wreak havoc on a victim's computer.
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InfoWorld - Much as the ubiquity of Microsoft&#39;s Windows operating system and Office productivity tools has made the software giant a focal point of security research, search giant Google is facing new scrutiny as it diversifies its products and moves further into the business environment.
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A serious flaw in Google's desktop software could be used to wreak havoc on a victim's PC.
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With four in the last week, is Google the next security buffoon? Analysis Google's desktop search application is vulnerable to an exploit that allows a determined attacker to remotely run most programs installed on a victim's machine. The flaw is one of at least four security holes to visit Google this past week, demonstrating that the search king, despite the god-like aura it enjoys for its pleasing software designs, remains a mere mortal in the security cosmos.â¦
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Google responds to attacks on its privacy record.
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Ziff Davis - Google's phishing vulnerabilities could foretell new security threats for major Internet companies cozying up to the desktop.
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Google is quickly responding to security threats, as befits a search site that is rapidly becoming indispensable for IT users of all kinds.
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People who use public or workplace computers for e-mail, instant messaging and Web searching have a new security risk to worry about: Google's free new tool that indexes a PC's contents for quickly locating data.
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A pair of phishing vulnerabilities this week targeted at Google Inc. point to the kind of new threat Web companies can face as they expand their services into desktop applications, security experts say.
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(InfoWorld) - Google believes that its consumer-grade Web applications represent the future of enterprise IT. But while Google is quick to trumpet its products' innovative features, the search giant hasn't said much about their security. Until recently, that is. On Monday,Â Google announcedÂ it would spend $625 million to buy messaging security vendor Postini, a move that will give it access to 35,000 business customers, and provide it with the first security products for its Google Apps portfolio. The Postini acquisition represents the most significant investment into security technology yet made by Google. In recent months, Google has started its own security blog along withÂ acquiring another security-related startup, Green Border Technologies. Google Apps customers will be able to use Postini services for tasks like scanning and encrypting e-mail, and archiving messages for compliance and legal purposes, said Dave Girouard, vice president and general manager for Google's enterprise business, during a Monday conference call. Around 1,000 small businesses are signing up for Google Apps each day, according to Google. But the company admitted that big businesses have been reluctant to use hosted services because of concerns about security and corporate compliance issues. It hopes that buying Postini will help relieve those concerns. But now that Google has finally decided to become a security vendor, how far will it go? Rival Microsoft has started buying security companies itself, and recently introduced its own line of antivirus software. And Google's recent Green Border purchase has caused some to speculate that the search giant may soon offer a secure Web browser, locked down with Green Border's safe browsing technology. Google has so far refused to say what it plans to do with Green Border's products, but observers see other opportunities ahead. For example, the company could mine its vast database of Web sites to compete with Web filtering companies like Websense or AE6 Technologies. "There's a lot of money to be made by establishing a blacklist of Web sites," said Forrester Research Principal Analyst Chenxi Wang. "I would not be surprised if once they used their massive crawling infrastructure to turn that into a proprietary list and sell that with their enterprise product line." Google recently gave Web developers a way to access this data for free, but the company could build paid services for enterprise users on top of the free product, much in the same way it has developed Google Apps, observers said. "If they add real-time intelligence and put that in an enterprise product, they can definitely make money," Wang said. Wang predicted that Google may also look to acquire information leak prevention companies such as Vontu or Vericept. One of Google's harshest critics on the security front said that things might become even more interesting should Google decide to expand its foothold on the desktop. "If they want to build their own operating system and they want to basically start making Firefox the [default] browser...they're going to need to start bumping up the controls and security and the devices to protect that environment," said Robert Hansen, CEO of Web security consultancy SecTheory. How much the Postini and Green Border acquisitions will go to secure existing Google products is unclear. Google said Monday that it will enhance Gmail with Postini's technology, but Hansen thinks that it will take time before Google builds security into its products from the ground up. In the company's rush to deliver cool and compelling features to its users has come at the expense of security, he believes. And until there is some sort of widespread security problem -- such as the worm and virus outbreaks that shut down Windows users five years ago -- Google has little incentive to make security a priority within its existing products. "It comes down to the business case," Hansen said. "If I want to fix Blogspot I have to convince some product manager somewhere that it's worth doing the investment... and in the end users are going to hate it." James Niccolai in Paris contributed to this report. Â
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This article discusses current trends in penetration testing for web application security, and in particular discusses a framework for selecting the best tool or tools to use for these increasingly common type of application.
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Worldwide spending on securing Web content is literally the hottest IT market today. With Web-based threats growing almost exponentially, IT and network managers are struggling mightily to stave off disaster while still letting employees reap the many benefits of the Web. The Webcast Barbarians At The Gate: Why Web Filtering Is So Hot, dives into the sources of the trouble while offering common-sense approaches to a secure Internet computing strategy.
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Dips toe into security market Google is acquiring GreenBorder, a Silicon Valley startup that helps protect web users against malware.â¦
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Google's privacy and content policies for Google Applications give Google full rights to use your content however the company wants.  Are you nervous?