Inside Google

A security consultant has found more problems with Google Docs, a so called "cloud computing" application.

The revelation by Robin Wauters on TechCrunch 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 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.