About that Cloud Security?
May 21, 2011
Let’s assume the Bloomberg story “Amazon Server Said to Be Used in Sony Attack”. If a one cloud based service can be used to attack another cloud based service, does the owner of the service used in the attack have an obligation to prevent the attack? Bloomberg reports that Sony is concerned. No kidding, but what about the customers? Bloomberg says:
…the breach at Amazon is likely to call attention to concerns some businesses have voiced over the security of computing services delivered via others’ remote servers, referred to as cloud computing. Cloud security is Amazon’s top priority, Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos said at an event sponsored by Consumer Reports magazine this week.
Will substantive, timely action be taken to address the issues associated with this type of alleged use of cloud services? I suppose that the companies involved will try to slap on a patch. When the dust settles, will there be significant change? My hunch is that the quest for revenues will come first. The costs associated with figuring out problems * before * they occur are just too high.
We’re still in the react mode when it comes to online. Learning to live with unknown risks just adds spice to the online stew.
Stephen E Arnold, May 21, 2011
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Tracking: Does It Matter?
May 11, 2011
A news story broke this week that was more difficult for many to ignore; it seems our beloved iPhones and iPads are paying us the same attention we lavish on them. It turns out these Apple devices keep an internal log of every cell tower or hot spot they connect to, in essence creating a map of the user’s movements for as long as ten months. It gets better. The log file is highly visible and unencrypted, making it accessible to anyone with your device in their hands.
Getting the scent. Source: http://www2.journalnow.com/news/2011/feb/07/wsweat01-beagle-found-in-a-jiffy-by-tracking-dogs-ar-760887/
This news stems from a couple of British programmers who stumbled upon said “secret” location file. In the midst of the melee that ensued from outraged consumers and lawmakers alike, I was directed to a Bloomberg article titled “Researcher: iPhone Location Data Already Used By Cops”.
Interestingly enough, a rendition of this same story has been covered by the press months ago, only featured in a different light courtesy of an individual studying forensic computing. Per the write-up: “In a post on his blog, he explains that the existence of the location database—which tracks the cell phone towers your phone has connected to—has been public in security circles for some time.
While it’s not widely known, that’s not the same as not being known at all. In fact, he has written and presented several papers on the subject and even contributed a chapter on the location data in a book that covers forensic analysis of the iPhone.”
The FTC, Google and the Buzz
March 30, 2011
I read “Google Will Face Privacy Audits For The Next 20 Long Years.” The Federal Trade Commission has under its umbrella the mechanism to trigger privacy audits of Google’s practices for the next 20 years. Okay. Two decades. The matter fired off the launch pad in February 2010 and, if the story is spot on, landed with a ruling in March 2011. Here’s the passage that caught my attention:
As the FTC put it, “Although Google led Gmail users to believe that they could choose whether or not they wanted to join the network, the options for declining or leaving the social network were ineffective.”
I think this means that Google’s judgment was found lacking. The notion of just doing something and apologizing if that something goes wrong works in some sectors. The method did not seem to work in this particular situation, however.
I noted this passage in the article:
Google has formally apologized for the whole mess, saying “The launch of Google Buzz. fell short of our usual standards for transparency and user control—letting our users and Google down.”
Yep. Apologies. More about those at the Google blog. Here’s the passage of Google speak I found fascinating:
User trust really matters to Google.
For sure. No, really. You know. Really. Absolutely.
I am not sure I have an opinion about this type of “decision”. What strikes me is that if a company cannot do exactly what it wants, that company may be hampered to some degree. On the other hand, a government agency which requires a year to make a decision seems to be operating at an interesting level of efficiency.
What about the users? Well, does either of the parties to this legal matter think about the user? My hunch is that Google wants to get back to the business of selling ads. The FTC wants to move on to weightier matter. The user will continue with behaviors that fascinate economists and social scientists.
In a larger frame, other players move forward creating value. Web indexing, ads, and US government intervention may ultimately have minimal impact at a 12 month remove. Would faster, more stringent action made a more significant difference? Probably but not now.
Maybe Google and the FTC will take Britney Spears’s advice:
“My mum said that when you have a bad day, eat ice-cream. That’s the best advice,”
A modern day Li Kui for sure. For sure. No, really.
Stephen E Arnold, March 30, 2011
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Will DuckDuckGo Ruffle Feathers?
January 8, 2011
Search engine DuckDuckGo’s new marketing campaign, summarized in Search Engine Journal’s “DuckDuckGo Pitches Private Search” ) says that what differentiates them from Google is privacy—they don’t store personal Internet data or associate it with a user account.
The heavy-handed marketing maneuver is being touted by DuckDuckGo founder and sole employee Gabriel Weinberg in a Search Engine Land report as an educational tactic. “I am trying to make the privacy aspects of search engines understandable to the average person who doesn’t have a lot of background knowledge on the more technical aspects.”
We are interested to see if Weinberg’s approach ruffles the feathers of the average searcher. Will they sit up and take notice of the privacy issue or does the attempt fly south?
Christina Sheley, January 8, 2011
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Serendipity or Snooping?
November 18, 2010
Barry Levine reports on Eric Schmidt’s presentation at the Tech Crunch Disrupt conference in “Eric Schmidt Sees Devices Running Your Life for You.” With a couple of brief nods to privacy concerns, the Google CEO touted his fantasy of a utopian future where computers anticipate your every move. Levine gives an example: “You’re walking down the street and your smartphone reminds you of your appointments, notes nearby sales of those shoes you’ve been searching for, and points out that your ex-girlfriend is in the restaurant on the corner.” This might send shivers of excitement down Schmidt’s spine, but it makes my hair stand on end. I don’t particularly care to have ex-boyfriends or anyone else know what restaurant I’m in. For anyone who’s been stalked this sounds more like a nightmare than a dream. Even if by some miracle we could assume everyone’s best intentions in this scenario, there’s a reason the Panopticon was a prison, not a luxury resort. And with recent backlashes against Facebook’s privacy controls, I think I’m not the only one who is still concerned about the openness of personal information online.
Alice Wasielewski, November 18, 2010
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How to Cope with Google: Change Your Name, Just Move
October 26, 2010
I find Math Club folks darned entertaining. I recall learning from someone that Google’s top dog suggested that one could deal with privacy issues by changing one’s name. No problem, but not exactly practical. Today (October 25, 2010) several people mentioned to me Dr. Schmidt’s suggestion regarding Street View’s imaging one’s home. The recommendation was, according to “Schmidt: Don’t Like Google Street View Photographing Your House? Then Move,” even more impractical than changing one’s name. In today’s real estate market, most folks struggle to make payments. The cost of moving is out of reach even if there were a compelling reason to uproot oneself. The idea of moving because Google is making snaps of one’s domicile is either pretty funny (my view) or pretty crazy (the view of one of the people in my office).
So which is it? Colbert Report material or an answer that could get you stuck in a hospital’s psychiatric ward for observation?
I side with the Math Club. Dr. Schmidt was just joking.
What’s not so funny is the mounting legal friction that Google faces. My concern is that the push back could impair Google’s ability to do deals. The issue is partially trust and partially mind share. With lawyers wanting discovery and depositions, the two Ds can get even the A student in Math Club in academic hot water. That’s bad for Google, its partners, and its stakeholders. Competitors know Google has lots of cash, but with Apple and Facebook surging, Google can no longer rely on controlled chaos to converge on a solution. Lawyers are into procedures and often lack a sense of humor.
Just move. Man, that’s a hoot. Getting a cow on top of a university bell tower will not elicit a chuckle from me. But “just move.” I am in stitches. Absolutely hilarious. But there is that other point of view… the hospital… the observation thing. Hmmm.
Stephen E Arnold, October 26, 2010
Google: No More Never Complain, Never Explain
October 23, 2010
The Straits Times reported “Google Sorry for Lapses.” Is this a change in method? I recall learning from one of my college professors at the cow town school to which I was admitted, “Never complain, never explain.” Now Google is apologizing, which combines complaining and explaining. If the write up is accurate, the Google may now be recognizing that it has created the equivalent of a ceramic brake slowing the Googlemobile to a snail’s pace. For a Googzilla, getting smoked by a snail is painful indeed. I opine that such friction may be worse than sitting out the senior prom in high school to work on a problem in partial derivatives.
Here’s the passage that caught my attention:
Mr Eustace [Google wizard and adult in charge of rocket science] provided Google’s most detailed description yet of the private data on unsecured wireless networks scooped up by Street View cars as they cruised through cities around the world taking pictures. ‘While most of the data is fragmentary, in some instances entire emails and URLs were captured, as well as passwords,’ he said. ‘We want to delete this data as soon as possible, and I would like to apologize again for the fact that we collected it in the first place. ‘We are mortified by what happened, but confident that these changes to our processes and structure will significantly improve our internal privacy and security practices for the benefit of all our users,’ Mr Eustace said.
Several observations:
- What about that phrase “most of the data is fragmentary”? “Data” is a plural but that matters not to the Google. The “most”? Well, that is more problematic and apparently ambiguous.
- With so many smart lads and lasses, how can such a mistake get propagated across the years and multiple versions of the scampering little data gobbling vehicles? Interesting to me, but I am not mortified. Google is. Ooops.
- After 12 years, a couple of alleged stalkers, and an Odwalla beverage delivery truck full of legal hassles, the Google is fixing up its “internal privacy and security practices.” I do like the categorical affirmative. Too bad the multiple exceptions create a bit of a logical issue for this goose.
In short, complaining and explaining perhaps?
Stephen E Arnold, October 23, 2010
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Google Waffles Backwards
October 21, 2010
Canada is annoyed at the Google. My view is that Google is mostly indifferent to legal hassles from countries. I mean when an enterprise can blow off the world’s largest market, what’s the difference when the likes of maple leaf lovers get annoyed. But there is an interesting item in the story “Google Ditches All Street View Wi-Fi Scanning.” Here’s the passage that caught my attention:
Google has no plans to resume using its Street View cars to collect information about the location of Wi-Fi networks, a practice that led to a flurry of privacy probes after the company said it unintentionally captured fragments of unencrypted data. The disclosure appeared in a report on Street View released today by Canadian privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart, who said that “collection is discontinued and Google has no plans to resume it.” Assembling an extensive list of the location of Wi-Fi access points can aid in geolocation, especially in areas where connections to cell towers are unreliable. Instead, Stoddart said that, based on her conversations with headquarters in Mountain View, Ca., “Google intends to obtain the information needed to populate its location-based services database” from “users’ handsets.”
No problem in my opinion. My thought is that the Math Club had a plan, a rogue engineer’s code, and some surprised customers. Now the GOOG seems to be doing the type of thinking one expects from a mere MBA. Is this progress? Depends on one’s point of view, right?
Stephen E Arnold, October 21, 2010
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Another Google Issue
September 19, 2010
Short honk: I don’t have much to say about this series of news stories and their write ups. I thought Google’s Summer of Anguish was over. Guess not. Why? Check out these titles. You may want to read the stories, but I just skimmed them:
- Google Engineer Fired for Spying on Teenagers
- Ex-Googler Allegedly Spied on User E-Mails, Chats
- Google Fires Engineer for Privacy Breach
Not even a gentle honk from Harrod’s Creek. Maybe this will be an endless summer for the Google?
Stephen E Arnold, September 19, 2010
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ChaCha and KGB: Seeing Eye to Eye
August 23, 2010
Who offers the most trusted search system for the Web and mobile. Is Google still the most trusted “go to” Internet search engine and with the advancement of mobile technology many mobile users can now conduct Google search from their mobile device.
“ChaCha, KGB See Text Messages as Alternative to Search Engines on Cell Phones” the companies ChaCha and KGB offer customers a simpler way to get answers. Users can send a question to ChaCha through a text or voice message and simply wait for a prompt reply from an agent. This is a free service but users should be prepared to receive advertisements from various providers. KGB service guides also can be contacted in a similar fashion except users must pay 99 cents and will not receive outside advertisements. Each is responsible for scouting out the latest information and delivering the most accurate up to date information possible. It’s not likely they are going to overtake Google fans but they could be a helpful addition.
Worth watching.
April Holmes, August 24, 2010
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