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Experts call on Google to improve security

22/06/2009 Experts call on Google to improve securityGoogle must improve the security of its Mail, Docs and Calendar applications, according to a group of experts.

A letter signed by 37 academics and researchers in the computing science, privacy law and data security sectors has called on Google to introduce industry standard transport encryption technology (HTTPS).

The group warned that, while HTTPS is used by Google to safeguard login data, the encryption system is not used as default to protect information sent using the applications.

"As a result, Google customers who compose email, documents, spreadsheets, presentations and calendar plans from a public connection (such as open wireless networks in coffee shops, libraries, and schools) face a very real risk of data theft and snooping, even by unsophisticated attackers," the letter read.

In response, Google said on its public policy blog that it would be conducting tests using "small samples" of Gmail users to see how HTTPS impacted on their email performance and would use the results to make a decision on encryption.


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