How to tame Google Desktop

If your organization doesn't block Google Desktop and other desktop search engines (DSEs), chances are these programs are running on many of your users' PCs. This may be cause for privacy related concerns since DSEs can index sensitive information stored on hard drives and "phone home" user-initiated search queries. Furthermore, Google (the company) may retain records of all searches, tied to every individual user. This tip explains how to block or secure Google Desktop in the enterprise.

Google Desktop: One of many DSEs

Google Desktop is part of an emerging desktop search engine (DSE) movement. Other DSEs include Ask Jeeves, Copernic, HotBot, X1, Yahoo and MSN Search Toolbar with Windows Desktop Search (WDS). Vista, the new Microsoft operating system due in late 2006, will have similar functionality. Another DSE, Spotlight, is built into Apple Mac OS X 10.4. Most DSEs are free and easy for users to procure.

A DSE maintains an index of a PC's hard drive, allowing users to quickly search their hard drive and receive relevant results in less than a second. Google Desktop Version 2, released in September 2005, also includes a companion sidebar, which pipes in a user's e-mail, news related to their Internet browsing habits, RSS feeds, weather reports and more.

Blocking DSEs

DSEs are an especial concern on public PCs used to access a company's SSL VPN, because an attacker could use a DSE to easily retrieve sensitive corporate informati

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You can keep Google Desktop off all corporate machines by simply not giving users administrator-level access to their PCs. Without administrator-level access, users can't install Google Desktop. Otherwise, DSEs can be blocked using desktop management tools.

On the other hand, if organizations allow Google Desktop, there are a number of techniques for securing it:

IT managers must also incorporate Google Desktop (or any other DSE) into their patch-management and compliance procedures. Here are three steps to help with these processes:

About the Author
Mathew Schwartz is a freelance writer, editor, and photographer based in Cambridge, Mass. He regularly contributes information security and corporate compliance stories to Enterprise Systems and IT Compliance Now. His work has also appeared in numerous other publications, including The Boston Globe, the Times of London and Wired News. Other recent work includes coauthoring a 188-page report on best practices for building and maintaining intranet portals, from the Nielsen Norman Group.

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