Merrill stresses that Google takes security very seriously, both to protect its users and to keep its intellectual property and internal systems—Google's secret sauce, so to speak—safe. In contrast to having a centralized security group review code before it's released, Google uses what Merrill describes as distributed system that enlists every engineer to make programs more secure. That means training every software engineer and Q&A engineer to look for security problems and to practice secure coding, and using common libraries that help avoid common security problems. It also means that code gets reviewed by another engineer whenever it gets checked in, and again during design, implementation, and launch.
"Everyone in the company feels accountability for building secure product because at the end of the day our users are what matters," Merrill says. "And providing good security is good for our users." Many companies make similar claims, though unlike a lot of Web startups, Google has the resources to practice what it preaches.
Microsoft also has considerable resources and since 2002 has been making a concerted effort to improve the security of its applications. It has made many recent security-related acquisitions and hires. Earlier this month, it hired former McAfee virus researcher Vincent Gullotto to serve as Microsoft's general manager of Security Research and Response.
Businesses, of course, worry about security at least as much as software vendors. Matt Glotzbach, head of enterprise products at Google, says people in his group regularly discuss security with business customers.
Among some corporate IT executives, Google's message that online apps aren't necessarily less secure than desktop ones appears to have been heard. Brad Friedman, VP of IT for retailer Burlington Coat Factory, uses Star/Open Office at more than 360 retail locations and says that the security issues for Web-based apps are similar to desktop programs, though different risk mitigation methodologies may be required.
Subsea cable alternatives can provide a level of comfort for those concerned about disruptions. Realistically, they will continue to play a small, but critical role in the short term.
Maintaining existing network infrastructures often incurs huge technical debt before newer technologies are adopted over time.
Amid ongoing regional uncertainties, telecom infrastructure in the Middle East has expand to include terrestrial low-latency network infrastructure, which offers resilience and agility in navigating political complexities without relying solely on undersea networks.
