Kevin Blissett: Out of the Cave » google

Alleged Chinese Hackers Stole Google Code

admin — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 04:03:18 +0000

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that last year’s infiltration into Google’s Gmail accounts by alleged Chinese hackers was actually much broader than was previously reported.

Attackers who breached Google Inc.’s systems last year gained access to computer code for the software that authenticates users of Google’s email, calendar and other online programs, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The code was contained in a repository that contained code for Google’s online applications and was also breached, this person said.

Evidently, the hackers in question are not limiting themselves to Google attacks:

The group, which is believed to be Chinese [implications that they are sponsored by the government] and has been identified by investigators by its attack methods, has broadened its victims to include law firms and utility companies, this person said. It’s been penetrating companies at a rate of at least 20-50 new companies a week, this person added.

Outside of hardening one’s own security, what other steps should be taken to put a stop to these activities? As in war, land mines are sometimes used to keep ground forces from advancing. My tech knowledge is insufficient, but I wonder if there are cyber mines which could be strategically placed to give hackers pause before proceeding.

Photo by Reuters

Moving the School to Google Apps

admin — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:13:34 +0000

The more I read, the more convinced I am that the best tool for our school’s communication and collaboration is Google Apps, and the FREE package is getting better all the time.

Right now, my school is using webmail hosted by the same company as our website. Apart from that, admin and teachers are collaborating on documents and policies via a wiki hosted by Wikispaces. We store most documents on the wiki (as well as hard drives), but some are stored in other places. Our need for a communicative and collaborative platform which integrates calendar, online storage, student work, etc. is immense. And Google Apps seems to have everything we could need. The major challenge will be implementation.

Folks tend to have an aversion to change, even when it’s warranted and needed, but that’s where a leader needs to come in and clearly communicate the benefits of the change and ensure stakeholders of proper training while in the process. And that’s my job. There’s no doubt that there will be resistance, but I’m confident that as teachers, staff and administrators give change a chance, they will see the benefits our school will accrue by transitioning to Google Apps. I’ll report back about how that’s going.

Below, I’ve included two videos illustrating the benefits of Google App for schools. Let me know what you think.