Googling Security: How Much Does Google Know About You?

386 Pages·2008·10.97 MB·English

by  Greg Conti

Googling Security
How Much Does Google Know About You?

Greg Conti

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ISBN-13: 978-0-321-51866-8
ISBN-10: 0-321-51866-7

Text printed in the United States on recycled paper at RR Donnelley in
Crawfordsville, Indiana.

First printing October 2008

Editor in Chief
Karen Gettman
Acquisitions Editor
Jessica Goldstein
Development Editor
Sheri Cain
Managing Editor
Kristy Hart
Project Editor
Jovana San Nicolas-Shirley
Copy Editor
Krista Hansing Editorial Services, Inc.
Indexer
Erika Millen
Proofreader
Kathy Ruiz
Publishing Coordinator
Romny French
Cover Designer
Gary Adair
Compositor
Bronkella Publishing
Dedication

For Nicholas
Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Chapter 1. Googling
The Digital Big Bang
Google: The Nation-State
Just Google It
Information Disclosure: A Closer Look
Risks
Information Disclosure Scenarios
Trend Away from the Desktop
Data Retention and Permanence
Trust
Information Is a Slippery Thing
Deliberate Sharing with Third Parties
Accident
Malware and Software Vulnerabilities
Targeted Attack
Legal Compulsion
It's Just Business
Google Addiction and Dependence
Summary
Endnotes
Chapter 2. Information Flows and Leakage
A Matter of Trust
Information Flows and Leakage on a PC
Networks
Peripherals
EM Radiation
Sound
Power Lines
Humans and the Things They Carry
Data Communication on the Network
Information Flows and Leaks on the Internet
Google versus an ISP
Summary
Endnotes
Chapter 3. Footprints, Fingerprints, and Connections
Basic Web Interaction and Data Retention
The Trail You Leave Behind
Web Server Logs
IP Addresses
Browser Header Fields
Cookies
HTTP Referer Data
Semantic Disclosures
Registered User Accounts
Web Site Navigation
Uniqueness and Behavioral Targeting
Behavioral Targeting
Uniqueness
Connections
Summary
Endnotes
Chapter 4. Search
What's in a Query?
Over Half a Million Search Engines
The Many Faces of Search
Search Box and Related Applications
Advanced Search Operators and Google Hacking
Other Search Vectors
Risks
Driving Traffic
Finding Incorrect Things (or the Perils of SEO)
Finding Malicious Things
The Search Queries of Others
(Self) Censorship
Fingerprinting
Summary