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Story URL: http://software.silicon.com/security/0,39024655,39164025,00.htm

The A to Z of security
Got the Love Bug? Scared of spyware? Read all about what's keeping techies awake at night...

By Natasha Lomas

Published: Tuesday 14 November 2006

Google

What's Google got to do with security? Well rather a lot, when you consider the amount of data the search engine makes available to anyone with a net-connected PC and a curious mind. Phishers, for instance, are using it to get more sophisticated in targeting their victims (a technique which became prominent in 2005, known as spear phishing) and a bit of 'quality Google time' can unearth a surprising amount of data on an individual or company.

Security from A to Z

Click on the links below to find out more...

A is for Antivirus
B is for Botnets
C is for CMA
D is for DDoS
E is for Extradition
F is for Federated identity
G is for Google
H is for Hackers
I is for IM
J is for Jaschan (Sven)
K is for Kids
L is for Love Bug
M is for Microsoft
N is for Neologisms
O is for Orange
P is for Passwords
Q is for Questions
R is for Rootkits
S is for Spyware
T is for Two-factor authentication
U is for USB sticks/devices
V is for Virus variants
W is for Wi-fi
X is for OS X
Y is for You
Z is for Zero-day

But when it comes to corporate security, it's Google Desktop that's keeping techies awake at night. The search app extends the Mountain View muscle to all the files contained on a PC's hard drive - putting corporate data security at risk, according to UK heads of IT polled by silicon.com.

And they are not alone in expounding that view: at the start of this year, a university and a manufacturing company in the US banned Google Desktop for the risk it posed to sensitive data and the fear it might be trampling on US privacy regulations.