Does Google desktop search pose risks?
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If you use shared or public computers, you have a new privacy risk to consider: Google Desktop Search.
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Google's new Desktop Search software is a muscle car among search engines, racing through personal data stored inside your computer to instantly find things you can't easily locate.
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(InfoWorld) - Just one day after a security researcher showed how Google'sÂ Firefox toolbar could be exploitedÂ in an online attack, a similar flaw has been discovered in the Google Desktop. On Thursday, Google hacker Robert Hansen posted proof of concept details showing how attackers could use Google Desktop to launch software that had already been installed on the victim's computer. The attack is hard to pull off and could not necessarily be used to install unauthorized software on the victim's PC, but it does illustrate the kind of security issues that arise with Web-based applications, said Hansen, the CEO of Web security consultancy Sectheory.com, and a contributor to the Ha.ckers.org Web site. "When you have third parties writing code that interacts with your browser, it inherently breaks the browser security model," he said. To exploit Hansen's Google Desktop vulnerability, an attacker would first have to launch a successful "man-in-the-middle" attack, somehow placing himself between the victim and Google's servers. This could by done by tricking the victim into logging onto a malicious wireless network, Hansen said. Once this was done, the hacker could launch Hansen's attack by changing the Web pages being delivered to the victim's PC. By returning Web pages that have been doctored with new JavaScript code, the victim could be tricked into clicking onto a malicious link, Hansen said. "When they actually click that mouse button, they're not clicking on the Web page, they're clicking on a link to Google Desktop that actually runs code, " he said. The steps Hansen took to pull off the attack are complex because of the security features that Google has built into its software, he added. "What I've done is combine a lot of different attacks that Google desperately tries to prevent." On Wednesday researcher Christopher Soghoian showed how a man-in-the-middle attack could be used to install malicious software on computers that used a variety of popular Firefox add-ons, including the toolbars from Google, Yahoo, and AOL. Hansen has posted a video showing how this attack could be used to launch Windows HyperTerminal. But it could be used to launch virtually any application that has already been installed on the PC, he said. This isÂ not the first bug in Google Desktop. In February, engineers at WatchfireÂ showed how a flaw in the program's Advanced Search Feature could be used to gain access to data or even run unauthorized software on a victim's computer. Two days after the Watchfire bug was disclosed, Hansen himself showed how attackers couldÂ steal information from Google Desktop usersÂ using what is called an anti-DNS (Domain Name System) pinning attack. Google was not immediately available to comment for this story. Â
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The logic behind Google (GOOG ) Desktop Search is simple enough: Why shouldn&#39;t the best tool for finding things on the Web do equally well at helping people search their own computers?
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A potentially devastating hole in Google Inc.'s prevalent desktop search product could have exposed personal files on users' computers to data thieves. Google fixed the defect within weeks of being informed about it and says it has no evidence the vulnerability was exploited.
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A study from security vendor McAfee found that search query results returned by Google, AOL, and Ask.com are less likely to lead viewers to dangerous Web sites than they were six months ago. The study also found that Yahoo and MSN are not following that trend toward safer search results.
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I have good news and bad news. The good news is that Googleâs new Desktop Search program works great on a hard disk full of old e-mails and downloaded Web pages.
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INTERNET giant Google has taken its searching tools one step further with a service for individual desktops. Its new desktop search application means users can search their email, files, web history, and chats
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Ogling Google can be a dangerous pastime.
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InfoWorld - Security researchers have discovered a serious flaw in Google&#39;s desktop software that could be used to wreak havoc on a victim&#39;s computer.
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It now feels amazing how we have lived without this particular feature since ages now. Google introduced desktop searching to the world in spite of the fact lesser-known products existed since a long time.
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Researchers at Rice University have discovered what they say is a flaw in the beta version of Google&#39;s (Profile, Products, Articles) Desktop Search product that could allow
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By John McBride, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.  Sep. 10--You go to Google and get your search results -- then what?   How do you know whether the sites Google returns can be trusted? You can't. It's you against the world.
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Google's PC search software is vulnerable to a variation on a little-known Web-based attack called anti-DNS (Domain Name System) pinning, that could give an attacker access to any data indexed by Google Desktop, security researchers said this week.
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Be Careful with Google Desktop Search  Google Desktop Search like most Google products makes an awesome first impression. I have tried other desktop search tools, but none of them can match the convenience that Google Desktop Search comes with. It is just a 450K download and it integrates in Google Search ...
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A security flaw that could have caused big trouble for Google and its new Desktop Search tool has been fixed, thanks to a Rice University professor and two of his graduate students.
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OCTOBER 25, 2004  - Google Inc. this month began offering a beta version of a desktop search application that catalogs files, e-mail messages and other information stored on PCs and then enables end users to run searches against the data.