Google, security, SaaS and appliancesWhat happened was that a member of our development team had inserted coding used for testing G-Archiver in the debug version and forgot to delete it in the final release version.
We sincerely apologize and assure you that this coding mishap was in no way intentional.
OK. Let's accept that at face value and assume that this was indeed an innocent mistake. No damage has been done and we can all move on.
Can we?
I think not. You see, the usernames and passwords inadvertently compromised this way were not just credentials to access Gmail. They were credentials to access every other Google service, including Google Docs and Google Apps. Those services allow users to share documents one with another. Thus, if one user's credentials are compromised in any way, every other user with whom the compromised user is linked is potentially exposed. One user compromised potentially puts whole communities at risk.
Think of the g-archiver incident as a proof of concept exploit against Google Apps and the whole episode is far more worrying.
TechCrunch has a thought provoking piece along these lines here.
This provokes a bigger question - when can businesses really trust service based solutions which involve the long term storage of a company's private information?
No matter how sophisticated security is made on these service based systems, they will always have a weak link in the security chain and that is the human element. Whether it is a g-archiver type phish or some other social engineering exploit, it seems to me that it is intrinsically easier to compromise an organisation's security where that organisation has chosen to entrust its data to a third party. This factor alone may be the achilles heel which keeps Google Apps in a niche position while guaranteeing a future for the likes of MS Office (and, I hope, Open Office, Lotus Symphony and the like).
In this light, over at ZDNet, Garett Rogers speculates about the possibility of a Google Apps appliance.
The main reason Microsoft products are consistently chosen over switching to Google Apps is because most companies, of all sizes, don’t trust anyone with their data but themselves — and rightly so. Google has two options:
- try and convince people that their most private information is safe behind their doors, or
- start swimming downstream by offering a hardware solution that users control
I'm not sure that trust is the main reason that enterprises aren't switching to Google Apps in droves, but it is certainly an important factor.
And Google Apps as an appliance? Really? If moves to SaaS are primarily motivated by a desire to be free of the burden of managing a phsyical infrastucture *, then an appliance isn't really the answer either.
Is this really the choice? SaaS with the concomitant risk associated with the vulnerability of the human element to social engineering, or yet more tin to stuff into already overburdened server racks?
I think Google has a lot more work to do if it truly wants to compete against Microsoft in the office automation space.
* Other than simple, web browser clients.
Category: Google
Technorati: g-archiver Google Google+Apps
1. Kerr12/03/2008 11:39:44
"most companies, of all sizes, don’t trust anyone with their data but themselves"
This is clearly nonsense. Large numbers of very large companies trust there data to third parties all the time. Of course this is under the guise of outsourcing, but it is essentially the same thing; a third party controls and manages the data under some form of contract.
How many companies use third party data centres, staffed by third party employees, with backup archives managed by yet another third party?
I'd be prepared to bet that the security provided by some third party hosting services such as the bunker http://www.thebunker.net/ far outstrip those provided by many in-house operations.
It all comes down to what level of security a service provider able to demonstrably provide. Currently SaaS providers are not stepping up to the plate to demonstrate how they will keep your data secure, but there is no fundamental reason why they couldn't.
2. Chris Linfoot12/03/2008 12:52:02
@Kerr - I broadly agree (as a SalesForce.com user and having significant outsourcing commitments too, I should), but the issue with Google is a little different.
Let me put it another way.
The security you get with Google Apps is worth every penny you pay for it.
3. Kerr12/03/2008 17:32:51
@Chris, "The security you get with Google Apps is worth every penny you pay for it."
Oh yes, I understand that. What seems strange is that there seems to be a lot of discussion about how your* data can't be safe if it's not under the direct control of your own company, when in fact people do it all the time. There seems to be something about SaaS that makes some people think it can't be secure. Not your good self I understand. 
How has Salesforce.com managed to dodge that bullet?
--
* vague, arm wavy, third person your
4. Chris Linfoot12/03/2008 18:16:02
Well, SalesForce dodged that bullet for me by giving a comprehensive response to the very detailed grilling I gave them on the matter.
There's still the human element, of course.
Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty and all that...
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