Google Hits Microsoft in the Nose: Alleges Security Issues

April 15, 2022

The Google wants to be the new Microsoft. Google wanted to be the big dog in social media. How did that turn out? Google wanted to diversify its revenue streams so that online advertising was not the main money gusher. How did that work out? Now there is a new dust up, and it will be more fun than watching the antics of coaches of Final Four teams. Go, Coach K!

The real news outfit NBC published “Attacking Rival, Google Says Microsoft’s Hold on Government Security Is a Problem.” The article presents as actual factual information:

Jeanette Manfra, director of risk and compliance for Google’s cloud services and a former top U.S. cybersecurity official, said Thursday that the government’s reliance on Microsoft — one of Google’s top business rivals — is an ongoing security threat. Manfra also said in a blog post published Thursday that a survey commissioned by Google found that a majority of federal employees believe that the government’s reliance on Microsoft products is a cybersecurity vulnerability.

There you go. A monoculture is vulnerable to parasites and other predations. So what’s the fix? Replace the existing monoculture with another one.

That’s a Googley point of view from Google’s cloud services unit.

And there are data to back up this assertion, at least data that NBC finds actual factual; for instance:

Last year, researchers discovered 21 “zero-days” — an industry term for a critical vulnerability that a company doesn’t have a ready solution for — actively in use against Microsoft products, compared to 16 against Google and 12 against Apple.

I don’t want to be a person who dismisses the value of my Google mouse pad, but I would offer:

  • How are the anti ad fraud mechanisms working?
  • What’s the issue with YouTube creators’ allegations of algorithmic oddity?
  • What’s the issue with malware in approved Google Play apps?
  • Are the incidents reported by Firewall Times resolved?

Microsoft has been reasonably successful in selling to the US government. How would the US military operate without PowerPoint slide decks?

From my point of view, Google’s aggressive security questions could be directed at itself? Does Google do the know thyself thing? Not when it comes to money is my answer. My view is that none of the Big Tech outfits are significantly different from one another.

Stephen E Arnold, April 15, 2022

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