What Does Google Know about You? And Who Are They Telling? When you use Google&;s &;free&; services, you pay, big time&;with personal information about yourself. Google is making a fortune on what it knows about you&;and you may be shocked by just how much Google does know. Googling Security is the first book to reveal how Google&;s vast information stockpiles could be used against you or your business&;and what you can do to protect yourself. Unlike other books on Google hacking, this book covers information you disclose when using all of Google&;s top applications, not just what savvy users can retrieve via Google&;s search results. West Point computer science professor Greg Conti reveals the privacy implications of Gmail, Google Maps, Google Talk, Google Groups, Google Alerts, Google&;s new mobile applications, and more. Drawing on his own advanced security research, Conti shows how Google&;s databases can be used by others with bad intent, even if Google succeeds in its pledge of &;don&;t be evil.&; This book is a wake-up call and a &;how-to&; self-defense an indispensable resource for everyone, from private citizens to security professionals, who relies on Google. Preface xiii Acknowledgments xix About the Author xxi Chapter 1: Googling 1 Chapter 2: Information Flows and Leakage 31 Chapter 3: Footprints, Fingerprints, and Connections 59 Chapter 4: Search 97 Chapter 5: Communications 139 Chapter 6: Mapping, Directions, and Imagery 177 Chapter 7: Advertising and Embedded Content 205 Chapter 8: Googlebot 239 Chapter 9: Countermeasures 259 Chapter 10: Conclusions and a Look to the Future 299 Index 317
