Hackers use Google to get private information


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Hackers use Google to get private information
26 May 2006
By SOPHIE NEVILLE

Sensitive government information and confidential documents are readily
accessible through Internet search engines, new research has shown.



A Massey University study has found that hacking attacks via the
popular search engine Google are on the rise and New Zealand sites are
less secure than those in the United States and Australia.

Information systems senior lecturer Ellen Rose said supposedly private
information was easy to find via Google. Businesses and government
departments needed to put more effort into protecting their
information.

"Google was intended to help you find things on the Web, but you can
find all sorts of things that perhaps people don't want you to find."

Researchers developed a computer programme that ran 170 queries a day
for three months against the Google database, looking at sites in New
Zealand, Australia, the US and the Czech Republic.

It found sensitive data was easier to find than before and New Zealand
sites were particularly vulnerable. Half the queries returned sensitive
information, but some was available for only a short time, Dr Rose
said.

She would not say what was discovered or from where, but said Google
allowed hackers to find vulnerable websites.
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