Network Computing is part of the Informa Tech Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

  1. Home
  2. Careers-and-certifications
  3. Gartner: Turn Off File Sharing In Google Desktop
Careers and Certifications

Gartner: Turn Off File Sharing In Google Desktop

Google Desktop 3 Beta poses a data security risk to enterprises, Gartner said in a research posting on its Web site.
February 18, 2006

This story was updated Friday at 5:44 PM ET.

Tech research firm Gartner Inc. is recommending that enterprises turn off the file-sharing feature in Google Inc.'s desktop software.

In a research posting on its site, Gartner said businesses allowing employees to use Google Desktop 3 Beta, which was released Feb. 9, should start using the enterprise version of the software immediately. In addition, it said businesses should disable the Search Across Computers feature.

The feature enables people to share files in their computers. Google does this by storing index copies of the files on its server for up to 30 days. The information is encrypted, and computer users decide which files they want to share.

The problem with the feature, according to Gartner, is that employees are not always reliable in identifying documents that should not be shared. Such files could include those with regulatory or security restrictions, the researcher said.

Tags:

News
Careers and Certifications
  • 1