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More trouble on Google’s cloud

A security consultant has found more problems with Google Docs, a so called "cloud computing (opens in new tab)" application.

The revelation by Robin Wauters on TechCrunch (opens in new tab) explains how Ade Barkah found that if you embed an image in a supposedly protected document and load it on Google’s server, people you’ve not given access to the file can still download the image.

Google is one of the main advocates of "cloud computing."  Under this model a user needs only an Internet connection and a browser. Software applications and data reside on a server and are accessed via the Internet.

Google Docs and Gmail are excellent examples of cloud computing.

A key to success is that the data kept on the "cloud" must be secure. Earlier this month Google acknowledged security problems (opens in new tab) and said it fixed those issues.

Apparently there are still problems. I’d say the outlook for security and privacy with the Internet giant is at best cloudy.

John M. Simpson

John M. Simpson

John M. Simpson is an American consumer rights advocate and former journalist. Since 2005, he has worked for Consumer Watchdog, a nonpartisan nonprofit public interest group, as the lead researcher on Inside Google, the group's effort to educate the public about Google's dominance over the internet and the need for greater online privacy.

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