While I am not attacking Google on this one, I do think they could be doing more to inform people about Gears as they become more widespread. You are right that people are the first line of defense against anything, but the web is constantly bringing new technologies and even power users may find it difficult to stay on top of it all. If the site said, "you don't have Windows Media plug-in, click here to download," that would seem legitimate for many people if it had the Windows logo and such. Like I said, since users are told it is Google software, many people will assume it is safe because it is Google's software. (You cannot assume that they understand what is really going on behind the scenes. There are still people who don't know the difference between Email and Web Browsers, for example.) I hope that people will have more caution, but it still feels a little irresponsible.
But I digress. I am really interested in hearing more from Google about the potential security hazards that Gears could introduce to users and how to protect them from those hazards. FROM GOOGLE. On Apr 16, 2:42 am, Eduard Martini <[email protected]> wrote: > This is not a "security risk". You are asked if you allow gears for > that site. Nothing is hidden. It is like I make a site with a link > asking: "Do you want to download and run my_virus.exe?" If you say > yes, you got my virus. There are many "security risks" if the user > just accepts all the warnings that he got, Gears brings nothing new. > > On Apr 15, 8:13 pm, meanderingthemaze <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I have been googling about potential security risks associated with > > the end-users' use of Gears. Strangely, Google seems to not be making > > any public comments on this subject. If I'm wrong, please direct me to > > where they discuss it. > > > As they are trying to court developers by "opening up" the code, they > > are also allowing others to possibly exploit this brand new idea that > > people don't know much about. I can't imagine that Google has not > > considered this, but is it not a little irresponsible to not address > > these things if they are allowing others to exploit this technology. > > Afterall, many people will most likely believe things are safer > > because it says Google. > > > I did find some articles by others pointing out security issues. > > > For my personal use, I will have the common sense to not just allow > > any site to use gears (in fact, I am only using gears with GApps.) But > > I'm sure many less careful people will be jumping on the Gears ship > > because it sounds cool, or it might just be a curiosity. > > > Does anyone have nay more info on this topic?
