Summary
The practice of "Google hacking," -- the use of automated software to sift through Google's exhaustive archive to find sensitive information like credit card numbers and database passwords -- is of increasing concern to computer security specialists. Experts recommend that individuals and companies with a web presence check the Google service periodically to see what is stored about their operations.
Original source:
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=internetNews&storyID=2005-02-11T174439Z_01_SIN163746_RTRIDST_0_OUKIN-COLUMN-PLUGGEDIN.XML
Details
- Hackers have found a handy tool to take control of bank accounts, tap into corporate computer networks and dig up sensitive government documents.
- The Internet's most popular search engine can find everything from goldfish-care tips to old classmates in the blink of an eye, but it's equally adept at finding caches of credit-card numbers and back doors into protected databases.
- Google Inc. and other search providers create an inventory of the World Wide Web through an automated process that can uncover obscure Web pages not meant for the public.
- "If you don't want the world to see it, keep it off the Web," said Johnny Long, a Computer Sciences researcher and author of "Google Hacking for Penetration Testers."
- Unlike other intrusion techniques, Google hacking doesn't require special software or an extensive knowledge of computer code.
- Using Google, identity thieves can easily find credit-card and bank-account numbers, tax returns, and other personal information buried in court documents, expense reports and school Web sites that contain such information.
- Corporate spies can uncover passwords and user names needed to log on to a corporate network, or find poorly configured computers that still use default passwords.
- A search for error messages can provide important clues for intruders as well.
- Such "cached" pages can turn up security holes even after they've been fixed, or allow an intruder to scan a network without leaving a footprint.
- It's impossible to tell how often malevolent hackers use Google.
- But the recent emergence of computer worms that spread using the search engine suggests that Google hacking has been common practice for years, Long said.
- Anybody with a Web site should Google themselves using a "site:" query that lists every Web site they have available online, Long said.
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