5 ms·

Google shutters Google+ social network after WSJ reports a huge security lapse

46 points by elsewhen 8y ago

aeleos 8y ago
Pretty bad look for google not reporting a security incident, especially one related to personal information. Google hasn’t had a good track record recently and this seems to be showing that google has really changed for the worse. If google is willing to cover up a social media breach, what happens when my email data is breached? I don’t know if I can trust google with my data anymore, or anyone for that matter. As much as my online data is tied to google, it might be time to remove them as painful as it might be. Anyone else done this or have any recommendations about getting away from gmail / chrome? I have used chrome and google/gmail for a long time. I have looked into Firefox previously and the only thing stopping me is the lack of multiple profiles with each having its own window, running at the same time. I usually have one personal profile, one for school and one for work and I would like to keep that setup.
- eridius 8y ago
  Firefox has something called multi-account containers (this is technically an extension but it's developed by Mozilla) that lets you basically have profiles but on a per-tab basis instead of a per-window basis. It color-codes the tabs to let you know which container it's running in, and you can set it up to always open a given site in a particular container if you want. Here's the help page if you want more info: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/containers https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/containers
  - aeleos 8y ago
    Thanks, I have heard about this before when it was released but never used it. It seems like it has gotten a lot better.
  - pmontra 8y ago
    I use it all the time for the main websites (Google, FB, Amazon, banks, etc). It's also useful to access the same site with multiple accounts from the same browser in development.
  - mercer 8y ago
    The one feature that would probably make me switch to Firefox again with no hesitation is if these multi-account containers can also have different plugins active/inactive. Without it, it's still cool but not quite as useful for me.
- ma2rten 8y ago
  Quoting the top comment from the other discussion, which I think hits the nail on it's head: Company finds a security vulnerability caused by a bug. Logs show that it has never been used by anyone. It patches the vulnerability. Should the company announce it publicly? PS: Keeping in mind that this is part of the Murdoch vs. Google war going on for about 10 years: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18169083 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18169083
pravda 8y ago
Gosh, I like Google+ Am I the only one?
- ergothus 8y ago
  Google+ was successful.in limited groups, where others were more likely to be also involved (for example, tabletop RPGs have a much stronger g+ community than many other hobbies). This inevitably leads to confusion about popular/competitive it is. See also the final years of word perfect, where it was the norm in medical and legal circles but nowhere else.
- yebyen 8y ago
  You and my father. I just logged into G+ for the first time in months (apparently not shuttered quite just yet...) ... and there are about five hundred political posts from him that I'm glad I didn't see, and six or ten cute bear cubs/cat photo things too. I guess he's shared privately with me, and they've just been going into a black hole?
bsimpson 8y ago
Dupe of https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18169243 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18169243
- ipsum2 8y ago
  This isn't really a dupe, because the press release by Google hides pertinent facts.
palakchokshi 8y ago
If a tree falls in the forest does it make a sound if no one's around to see it or hear it fall? That seems to be Google's logic for not disclosing this.
mwnivek 8y ago
WSJ discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18169027 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18169027 Google blogpost discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18169243 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18169243
trixie_ 8y ago
They wanted to shut it off anyways, this is a scapegoat.

46 points by elsewhen 8y ago

Pretty bad look for google not reporting a security incident, especially one related to personal information. Google hasn’t had a good track record recently and this seems to be showing that google has really changed for the worse. If google is willing to cover up a social media breach, what happens when my email data is breached? I don’t know if I can trust google with my data anymore, or anyone for that matter. As much as my online data is tied to google, it might be time to remove them as painful as it might be. Anyone else done this or have any recommendations about getting away from gmail / chrome? I have used chrome and google/gmail for a long time. I have looked into Firefox previously and the only thing stopping me is the lack of multiple profiles with each having its own window, running at the same time. I usually have one personal profile, one for school and one for work and I would like to keep that setup.

eridius 8y ago
Firefox has something called multi-account containers (this is technically an extension but it's developed by Mozilla) that lets you basically have profiles but on a per-tab basis instead of a per-window basis. It color-codes the tabs to let you know which container it's running in, and you can set it up to always open a given site in a particular container if you want. Here's the help page if you want more info: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/containers https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/containers
- aeleos 8y ago
  Thanks, I have heard about this before when it was released but never used it. It seems like it has gotten a lot better.
- pmontra 8y ago
  I use it all the time for the main websites (Google, FB, Amazon, banks, etc). It's also useful to access the same site with multiple accounts from the same browser in development.
- mercer 8y ago
  The one feature that would probably make me switch to Firefox again with no hesitation is if these multi-account containers can also have different plugins active/inactive. Without it, it's still cool but not quite as useful for me.
ma2rten 8y ago
Quoting the top comment from the other discussion, which I think hits the nail on it's head: Company finds a security vulnerability caused by a bug. Logs show that it has never been used by anyone. It patches the vulnerability. Should the company announce it publicly? PS: Keeping in mind that this is part of the Murdoch vs. Google war going on for about 10 years: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18169083 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18169083

pravda 8y ago

Gosh, I like Google+ Am I the only one?

ergothus 8y ago
Google+ was successful.in limited groups, where others were more likely to be also involved (for example, tabletop RPGs have a much stronger g+ community than many other hobbies). This inevitably leads to confusion about popular/competitive it is. See also the final years of word perfect, where it was the norm in medical and legal circles but nowhere else.
yebyen 8y ago
You and my father. I just logged into G+ for the first time in months (apparently not shuttered quite just yet...) ... and there are about five hundred political posts from him that I'm glad I didn't see, and six or ten cute bear cubs/cat photo things too. I guess he's shared privately with me, and they've just been going into a black hole?

bsimpson 8y ago

Dupe of https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18169243 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18169243

ipsum2 8y ago
This isn't really a dupe, because the press release by Google hides pertinent facts.

palakchokshi 8y ago

If a tree falls in the forest does it make a sound if no one's around to see it or hear it fall? That seems to be Google's logic for not disclosing this.

mwnivek 8y ago

WSJ discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18169027 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18169027 Google blogpost discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18169243 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18169243

trixie_ 8y ago

They wanted to shut it off anyways, this is a scapegoat.