Digital Common Sense

February 17, Tech Web — Gartner: Turn off file sharing in Google Desktop. Tech research firm Gartner Inc. is recommending that enterprises turn off the file−sharing feature in Google Inc.’s desktop software. In a research posting on its site, Gartner said businesses allowing employees to use Google Desktop 3 Beta, which was released February 9, should start using the enterprise version of the software immediately. In addition, it said businesses should disable the Search Across Computers feature. The feature enables people to share files in their computers. Google does this by storing index copies of the files on its server for up to 30 days. The information is encrypted, and computer users decide which files they want to share. The problem with the feature, according to Gartner, is that employees are not always reliable in identifying documents that should not be shared. Such files could include those with regulatory or security restrictions, the researcher said.
Gartner’s report
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Note: The Google Desktop has always contained some element of risk. Risk is inherent with that sort of an application.

Filed by Ken at 11:05 am under InfoSec, Technology