Microsoft criticizes privacy in Chrome 3.0

By Tom Espiner, ZDNet UK
Thursday, October 22, 2009 11:12 AM

The latest version of Google's Chrome browser presents a privacy risk through its search-term tracking, a Microsoft security executive has said.

Microsoft general manager Amy Barzdukas, who heads up Internet Explorer and consumer security for the software company, said on Wednesday that Chrome 3.0 sends packets of information to Google every time a character is typed into its search box.

"With Google Chrome 3.0, every keystroke you type is sending a packet to Google," Barzdukas told an audience at the RSA conference in London. "Browser vendors need to be careful with privacy."

Google's browser has already come under criticism from Microsoft over privacy. In September, the software maker said Google Chrome Frame--an Internet Explorer plug-in that replaces IE's rendering engine with Google's--doubled the attack area of the Microsoft browser.

Microsoft is engaged in a competitive battle with Google, which in July introduced Chrome OS, a Web-focused operating system that goes up against desktop-focused Windows. Microsoft itself has launched its own search engine, Bing, to compete with Google's market-leading product.

Read more of "Microsoft criticizes privacy in Chrome 3.0" at ZDNet UK.


WORTHWHILE?

0

0 votes
Blog

Talkback 0 comments

There are currently no comments for this post.


Tech Jobs Now!

Search for your ideal tech job:

Use shades of gray to enhance scale in Excel

Microsoft Office Suite

Excel's palette is generous, but don't throw buckets of pigment all over your spreadsheets just because you can.


Read more »



Ultimate 2012 recovery site: the moon

Blog thumbnail

Have you seen the disaster movie "2012"? A friend from Control Risks and I did, and we reluctantly concluded we wouldn't be able to write off the cost of our..... by Nathaniel Forbes

Read more »

Tags

  1. attack
  2. authentication and encryption
  3. blog
  4. data security
  5. e - mail
  6. hacking
  7. internet
  8. malware
  9. microsoft corp.
  10. network
  11. network security
  12. pc security
  13. researcher
  14. security
  15. security management
  16. software
  17. spam and phishing
  18. symantec corp.
  19. viruses and worms
  20. web