Google Abandons Windows Due to Security Reasons

According to Google staff, the Internet giant is gradually phasing out Microsoft's omnipresent Windows OS (Operating System) from internal use owing to security concerns, as reported by FT on May 31, 2010.

One Google employee said that they were no longer using Windows because of a security problem, as reported by FT on May 31, 2010.

The instruction for shifting to other OSs started following the hack of Google's Chinese operations. With that change, Google's (which employ over 10,000 employees worldwide) utilization of Windows would be stopped.

During January 2010, Google reported that an online hack from China allowed attackers to steal the intellectual property of Google and invaded the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists.

Google cited Microsoft's popular operating system (Windows) and the Web-browser (Internet Explorer) as helping hackers in China to successfully break into several Gmail accounts and Google-owned computers. The security researchers said that this was accomplished through a backdoor Trojan named Hydraq.

According to Net Applications (a research company), a large number of people across the globe use Windows, and its different versions contribute to over 80% of all installations.

Nevertheless, people know that Windows is more vulnerable to hackers' assaults and computer viruses in comparison to other OSs. As Windows is a commonly used operating system, an increasing number of assaults are aimed at this OS.

Together with one semi-formal policy, workers at Google have become increasingly worried about security since the time of the Chinese hacks. The employee stated that ever-since the China attacks, numerous people at Google were working with Macs because of security reasons.

However, albeit Mac OS X is not essentially safer than Windows, still the massive amount of malicious programs as well as other threats contributes to attackers commonly aiming their assaults at Windows.

BlackHat hackers' unfamiliarity with Mac and Linux provides Google a comparatively more secure platform. There are other advantages too. The alternative environments keep at bay botnets and other assaults that capitalize on the largely omnipresent Windows computers.

Related article: Google Rectifies Gmail flaw in Three Days

» SPAMfighter News - 6/8/2010