Tech Watch | InfoWorld Staff » Google acts fast to stop Santy worm

December 22, 2004 | Comments: (0)

Google acts fast to stop Santy worm

TAGS: None

Google is quickly responding to security threats, as befits a search site that is rapidly becoming indispensable for IT users of all kinds.

Google said Wednesday that it is blocking searches launched by Santy.A, a new Internet worm that targets servers running phpBB, a popular electronic bulletin board software package, according IDG News Service. Without any native ability to scan for vulnerable computers, Google's action halted Santy.A's spread.

The company is finding that its enormous success is making it a target. Earlier this week, a handful of researchers at Rice University uncovered a security flaw in Google's Desktop Search offering that could allow attackers to view small portions of personal search results.

Cathleen Moore, of InfoWorld, said that although Google Desktop Search is a beta product and is not specifically designed for enterprise use, many corporate users have jumped at the promise to easily search PC files, e-mail messages, and chat logs.

Forrester Research warned against potential privacy issues that could result if sensitive corporate content is indexed by the desktop search tool, Moore said.

Posted by Jack McCarthy on December 22, 2004 04:43 PM

RATE THIS ARTICLE: