Google Buzz – security flaw exposed
9 Million posts and comments later the internet is awash with the story of a early major security flaw is Google’s latest application deployment.
The issue is that people following you can see the people that you are following. Doesn’t sound too bad does it? But the issue that has arisen from this is that when you enable Google Buzz or it is automatically enabled you are automatically following the majority of your Google Mail contacts.
This creates an issue for anybody who has friends that they genuinely want to interact with via Buzz but don’t particularly want to disclose everyone else they are in contact with. This could lead to more than a few awkward situations.
The issue really hit home in a piece from the Guardian where the reporter pondered on the situation a journalist could find themselves in if certain people had visibility of their sources.
Thankfully there is a fix and I’m sure Google themselves will be rapid in picking this up. Take a look at Silicon Alley’s coverage for a full run through and ways to workaround this flaw.
