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Google is confident that its cloud-based Chrome OS will change the computer security landscape beyond recognition. That the many layers of security built in to the operating system will be enough to render third-party anti-virus solutions useless.That you will no longer have to “spend hours fighting your computer to set it up and keep it up to date.” But not everyone - least of all computer security companies - is convinced.
One of the skeptics, Rik Ferguson, director of security research at Trend Micro, has dismissed Google’s security promises as “media friendly” hogwash while comparing them to similar claims from Apple: “While I applaud the impressive advances in security that are apparent in Chrome OS, to a certain extent we are seeing marketing history repeat itself. How often did the mantra that MacOS was immune to malware need to be repeated until the vast majority of users believed it and continue to do so, even after Apple went as far as incorporating rudimentary AV software into MacOS?”
In a recent blog post, Ferguson tersely touched upon Chrome’s key security features, including sandboxing, automatic updates, complete absence of desktop apps, cloud-based data storage, and the ability to seamlessly revert back to the last known good state when an anomaly is detected.
He then proceeded to focus on some of the possible workarounds that malware vendors are likely to employ. Ferguson feels that as hackers are likely to find new ways of circumnavigating the sandbox itself, it would be “short-sighted” to completely rely on sandboxing technology even when it is as effective as Chrome’s.
He further wrote, “As regards the notion of the operating system always reverting to a known good state at reboot and the security afforded by encrypted data being stored in Google’s cloud, well surely that’s just moving the goalposts for the bad guys.”
“If I can infect you for one session and steal your keys, well then I’ll get what I can while I’m in there and then continue accessing your stuff in the cloud, after all I’ve got your keys now, I don’t need your PC anymore.”
Even though it’s not too surprising to see Trend Micro having a problem with Google’s assertion, it does have a point in that no operating system is impregnable and that Chrome OS will, over time, have its fair share of security issues - just a case of how they manifest themselves.
All said, the cloud-based operating system is likely to make things a bit more complicated for malware authors. It’s also just as important to acknowledge the great job that Google has done in making Chrome one of the safest web browsers out there. It now needs to keep up the good work.
Comments are closed on this article
th_fixer
March 08, 2012 at 6:16am
Trend Micro with their website www.Trendmicro.com are leaders in ati virus software for more than a few years so I don't have any doubt that what they say it's true. I'm using their product for a long time and I am very satisfied of the anti virus protection they offer.
xiqtem
May 31, 2011 at 11:03am
No control or privacy for the user and ultimate control and invasion of privacy for the corporations and government. So you want to play a game? To bad, you don't have the proper permissions to access that file(even though you do) So you want to access your files from anywhere? Remember ftp? This cloud convienience is going to come at a great cost that most users don't consider or care about until they are confronted with it. You think @pple's invasion of users privacy is bad with their eulas and spying? Wait until the cloud takes control. Oh just like every other deletion of our liberties coming under some false pretense of it being beneficial so comes the cloud. Beware! the end(of open source, free software, inovation, access to all info) is near!
GetOutOfBox
May 30, 2011 at 12:18am
The concepts of cloud computing sounds cool for office computers, but currently there's little justification for personal applications.
Also, most of the actual implementations have been pretty lackluster, with little justification for using them over regular PC's.
yr
May 29, 2011 at 5:35am
Everyone is touting "cloud" computing, storage soon it will even make your coffee in the morning. :)
It is no different than the old "mainframe" where pc's were not powerful enough to host their own programs (now called apps), and also very expensive, so the mainframe hosted the programs and everyone used a terminal (cheaper computer) to access the mainframe.
With PC's being so powerful, who needs that? The 'sync' benifit can be had with a simple sync program and your own home pc/server. PC's are also cheap enough that everyone has more than one too!
How much do you wanna bet that Google Chrome OS will NOT let you host your own files on your own PC rather than their "cloud", which gives you no control over your stuff, and lets someone else hold your files (insert all the negative ideas in the other posts here about someone else holding your files).
I like technology and the Chrome OS sounds interesting, but I want to host everything in-house SAFELY, without risking my files on someone else's PC.
Scythian
May 28, 2011 at 3:07pm
Secure? I don't think so. Cloud computing is a bad idea. It will never be secure enough. By the way who is watching Google or Microsoft or anyone promoting the cloud?
Baer
May 28, 2011 at 1:37pm
Impregnable? No shuch thing. If is is made by man then man can break it.
k11k
May 28, 2011 at 12:00am
Its almost like apple, say u dont need antivirus, till u get infected and what do u do now. Watch as u get the run around from vendor till it get so wide spread that action is force to be taken. Never like the idea of cloud, u want privacy, how is cloud going to do that when the admin, who isn't you, have full control. It only takes a rouge employee (wikileaks), net attack (PS3) and ur info is free for all to see.
Deanjo
May 28, 2011 at 9:20am
You do the same thing that any mac user does with a rogue app. Start their version of the task manager, stop the app, delete it from the start up items and throw the executable in the trash unlike windows where you are chasing down 30 million registry entries and restoring system level files that were over written because everybody has permission to do it by default.
Frank N Beenes
May 28, 2011 at 10:26am
So true. I love how I cant do much with a file that is "in use". But some random app from the web has full access to do whatever it wants to my system. Go Microsoft! If they spent 1/10th the resources stopping Malware as they did spitting on their users with Genuine Advantage. I am fairily convinced they do it on purpose for a myriad of reasons.
voltagenic
May 27, 2011 at 11:46pm
I agree 100%, and although I love Android and look forward to the Chrome OS, this is one thing about the whole idea of Chrome that I do not like as well. At least with my PC or Mac, if my computer is infected I can take immediate action to make sure my information is not being shared or viewed by someone it wasn't meant to be shared with.....by doing something as simple as disabling my wifi adapter and scanning.
I pretty much feel with Trend Micro on this.....what do you do when all your information is in the cloud? Like you said, once you have the keys, you don't need the physical computer anymore. This scares me the most about this "radical" idea of the Chrome OS, eve moreso than buying a PS3 atm lol.
