How dangerous is Google Desktop?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the potential dangers of using Google Desktop, particularly in a corporate environment. Participants express concerns about privacy and security risks associated with the software, especially with its new features that store user data on Google's servers. The conversation includes considerations of user permissions, application management, and corporate policies regarding software installation.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Meta-discussion

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express concern that Google Desktop may expose confidential documents to security risks due to its data storage practices.
  • Others suggest that disabling certain features could mitigate risks, emphasizing the importance of adhering to corporate standards for software use.
  • There are discussions about managing user permissions in Active Directory to prevent the installation of applications like Google Desktop without restricting all installation rights.
  • A participant proposes a strict policy of warning employees against installing Google Desktop, suggesting severe consequences for non-compliance.
  • Some participants highlight the challenges of managing user applications in a corporate setting, particularly with less tech-savvy users who may inadvertently install unwanted software.
  • One participant mentions using Altiris for software deployment as a potential solution to manage installations more effectively.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally share concerns about the risks associated with Google Desktop, but there is no consensus on the best approach to manage these risks or the necessity of allowing users to install applications. Multiple competing views on user management and software policies remain present.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include varying levels of understanding regarding Active Directory policies and the specific security implications of Google Desktop's features. The discussion does not resolve the technical details of application management or the effectiveness of proposed solutions.

Math Is Hard
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This makes me nervous. Some of our users might download this program and unwittingly put confidential documents in a potentially vulnerable position. Anyone else got concerns about this?
I'd really like to hear your opinions. Thanks.

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1925064,00.asp

A high-profile privacy watchdog group has a terse warning for business and consumers: Do not use the new version of Google Desktop.

The nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation said a new feature added to Google Desktop on Feb. 9 is a serious privacy and security risk because of the way a user's data is stored on Google's servers.

The new "Share Across Computers" feature stores Web browsing history, Microsoft Office documents, PDF and text files on Google's servers to allow a user to run remote searches from multiple computers, but, according to the EFF, this presents a lucrative target to malicious hackers.
 
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Intresting, as with the older version, just disable the options you do not want.
In a corporate environment, users should not be using applications that are not in compliance with your corporate standards. As long as you are admining your desktops correctly users won't be able to install applications (dont give them admin rights!).
 
Anttech said:
In a corporate environment, users should not be using applications that are not in compliance with your corporate standards. As long as you are admining your desktops correctly users won't be able to install applications (dont give them admin rights!).

... at times it's so difficult and time consuming to stay ahead of corp admins & work around various policies :biggrin: (lucky am in a non-profit non-confidential branch though).
 
PerennialII said:
... at times it's so difficult and time consuming to stay ahead of corp admins & work around various policies :biggrin: (lucky am in a non-profit non-confidential branch though).

heh... No need to qualify your statement :-p
 
We are currently managing about 400 users in Active Directory. The way it is set up now is that we add them to a group to allow them to be able to install applications (but I don't have a good understanding of the policies behind this). We have to do this for practically every new user because we have proprietary applications that everyone needs to install, and then occasionally they need to install upgrades to these apps. I am curious if there is a way in AD to prohibit installation of particular applications like Google Desktop, without taking away all their installation rights. Right now, I think the solution being talked about is to communicate to everyone that they should not install Google Desktop, and to periodically scan the machines to see if anyone has it.
 
I got the solution: Tell the employee's that they'll get canned if you find out they installed Google Desktop.
 
Math Is Hard said:
We are currently managing about 400 users in Active Directory. The way it is set up now is that we add them to a group to allow them to be able to install applications (but I don't have a good understanding of the policies behind this). We have to do this for practically every new user because we have proprietary applications that everyone needs to install, and then occasionally they need to install upgrades to these apps. I am curious if there is a way in AD to prohibit installation of particular applications like Google Desktop, without taking away all their installation rights. Right now, I think the solution being talked about is to communicate to everyone that they should not install Google Desktop, and to periodically scan the machines to see if anyone has it.

I fail to see any reason why you would need to allow users to install applications. In the AD you can publish or assign software. You can also "run as" on a local desktop. We use Altiris on top of AD to deploy software. The Altiris agent runs as a service on the local desktop. It allows us to install software via scripts and files shares to any desktop, without the problem of giving endusers admin rights.

XP is supposed to be a "Multiuser" OS so people should use it like one, you will find a lot less security risks if you do
 
Thanks for your feedback, Anttech. Now you've got me really curious why we don't manage users' applications this way. It seems like it would be easy enough to push updates to our applications and deploy any new applications remotely. I will have to ask our IT gurus.

This is my first experience working in an organization where the users are not all software developers and database managers. I have always worked for small development companies prior to this, so there was not a lot of need for restriction. Everyone was pretty savvy. In my current situation, we have many more users who are prone to install the fun toolbars and screensavers, etc. that come loaded with spyware and adware junk and occasionally, viruses. It can be a burden when we have to clean this stuff out, and occasionally reformat machines entirely.
 
dduardo said:
I got the solution: Tell the employee's that they'll get canned if you find out they installed Google Desktop.
It hasn't gotten quite that drastic yet, but our director did send an email out to the organization asking everyone not to install Google Desktop until IT staff has had a chance to investigate some more.
 

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