July 09, 2009, 7:23 AM — Google’s Chrome OS, announced on Tuesday, is already raising security concerns, based on boasts that the company is making about the new operating system’s underlying security architecture that sound far-fetched.
Wednesday’s post on the Official Google Blog made the following claim: “And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work.”
Yes it should. But will it?
One security executive told the IDG News Service that those claims are idiotic, adding that creating an operating system that is immune to viruses is as impossible as making 2+2 =3. Although other security experts quoted in the article said it’s entirely possible to develop a more secure operating system than today’s status quo.
It’s hard to judge how secure Google Chrome OS will be without more information about this underlying security architecture. No doubt the computing world would welcome a more secure operating system that required less patching and fixing than Windows, but such an operating system would also be based on brand-new technology that is untested, and therefore unsecure.
However there are some aspects of Google’s existing technology that could put the new operating system in a good starting position. For example, Google’s security claims could be somewhat bolstered if Google Chrome OS uses the same sandboxing technology that the Google Chrome browser uses. Sandboxing creates a confined execution environment where untrusted programs can be run without giving the application full access to the underlying system, therefore limiting the amount of damage that can be done.
And, because Google Chrome OS will be based on Linux, which historically has fewer security threats targeted at it than Windows, it could prove to be a more secure environment than what’s running on most PCs these days.
Based on all the head-scratching that’s going on about Google Chrome OS security claims, hopefully Google will enlighten us soon with more information.
Meanwhile, Google Chrome OS is also raising privacy concerns as the new operating system gives Google yet another way to collect, and profit from, its users’ personal information.
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