This is a pretty interesting article. It discusses the security team at Google and the things they plan on doing to secure the forefront of web 2.0. While I am sure many people are happy of the importance Google is putting into their security, it will be very interesting to see how their actions reflect on everyone else. Just from seeing Google features such as malware warnings in their search results, these could have detrimental effects on everyone, especially if the sites are actually legitimate.

Douglas Merrill first learned about online security while growing up in Arkansas. A natural geek, he spent Saturdays putting together computers with his dad, a physics professor.

While exploring the wilds of a young cyberspace in his early teens, he encountered bulletin boards run by hate groups. Appalled by what he read, Merrill figured out ways to “play with” membership rolls to convey his opposition.

“I had a goal to try and embarrass all the white supremacists in Arkansas,” he said. “Arkansas is a relatively rural state. It is very beautiful. It is an incredible place to be a kid. There was also at the time a kind of unfortunate element in Arkansas that had some pretty strong political views that I pretty strongly disagreed with.”

It was this formative experience, combating bigotry, that would teach him the power of technology in society. It was also the beginning of what would later become a guiding principle in his professional life as well.[more]

Tags: Computer Protection, Defense in Depth