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Online Search Engines Lift Cover Of Privacy

Posted by timothy on from the bathwater-around-the-baby dept.

Rican writes "MSNBC has an interesting article about how 'Googledorks' are using the powerful search engine to do searches across the web for sensitive and/or private information. Some of this information includes 'Medical records, bank account numbers, students' grades, and the docking locations of 804 U.S. Navy ships, submarines and destroyers.'"

31 of 460 comments (clear)

  1. I've heard of "cow orkers"... by Black+Parrot · · Score: 5, Funny


    ...but what the heck are "googled orks"?

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
    1. Re:I've heard of "cow orkers"... by Snad · · Score: 4, Funny

      ...but what the heck are "googled orks"?

      It's the technical term for searching the web for the name of an extra in the big fight scenes in The Lord of the Rings movies.

      This is a very popular pass time in New Zealand, where 95% of the country's population was used in the Minas Tirith scene.

    2. Re:I've heard of "cow orkers"... by ross.w · · Score: 2, Funny

      Searchable goblins perhaps?

      --
      If my call is important, why am I talking to a recording?
  2. And the naked pics of me and my babe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    Right here...

  3. SS Minnow by flewp · · Score: 4, Funny

    But can they find the last port location of the SS Minnow?!

    --
    WWJD.... for a Klondike bar?
  4. Cue Dr. Evil by Clinoti · · Score: 5, Funny

    The most basic way to keep Google from reaching information in a "Web server", security experts said, is to set up a "digital gatekeeper in the form of an instruction sheet for the search-engine's crawler. That file, which is called "fembots.txt"

    --

    Let's keep in mind that patents are in place to keep lawyers employed and keep them litigating. -CatGrep

  5. Homework answers by form3hide · · Score: 4, Funny

    Lets pretend I'm taking a computer science course.

    Lets pretend each week I have a program to code.

    You see if you pretend, of course, I put the filename into google, and clicked search. In pretend, you know what came up?

    The source code to the program I had to write for my university.

    But remember, this is in pretend land.

    1. Re:Homework answers by DiveX · · Score: 3, Funny

      Great. Now I have to shift through about one million pages with the term 'Hello World" in order to find the one I need. It is going to take me like 5 hours to find this when I could write it in a span of 3 minutes. There goes my afternoon.

      --
      Cave, wreck, and deep diver.
  6. Re:Google threatens privacy and national security by Neppy · · Score: 2, Funny

    How can we not hold Mapblast (how's that name for irony!) partially responsible for the Two Towers tragedy when several aerial photographs from the site were found in Atta's car?
    Shouldn't we also hold the gas companies responsible? I bet they found gasoline in his car too.

  7. Re:Hardc0re hax0r. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Googledorks. What is it all about... is it good, or is it whack?

  8. nothing new by martin-boundary · · Score: 4, Funny
    People have been doing searches for private, sensitive, pr0n logins and passwords for years...

    Err, not me of course ;-)

  9. Re:Nothing new by Beatbyte · · Score: 4, Funny

    you mean 539-60-5125?

    --
    Get paid to code OSS
  10. WHOLLY SHIT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    take a look at this

    anyone want to buy a yacht?

    the date on the fourm is Sat Feb 07, 2004 10:20 pm so um im guessing most of those are still valid.

  11. /. google! by potpie · · Score: 3, Funny

    now's our chance! I think we can slashdot Google!

    --
    Esoteric reference.
    1. Re:/. google! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Dont' worry. We can mirror to Google cache.

  12. Been doing this for a while by GonzoDave · · Score: 1, Funny

    I've noticed the worst sites, security wise, are American universities and British hospitals. Greatest thing found has to be the admin username/password for a company specializing in secure web design

  13. Re:Names.. by MikeXpop · · Score: 2, Funny

    Manly man, aren't you?

    --
    Etiquette is etiquette. He kills his mother but he can't wear grey trousers.
  14. Re:Could happen to you by bobthemuse · · Score: 4, Funny

    A while back I Googled my credit card number for a laugh.

    I wonder if google has a feature where I can view recent search terms...? You had a laugh, I get a giggle, we're all having fun!

  15. Re:Why Google? by Deraj+DeZine · · Score: 2, Funny

    1. Take an out-of-context and incorrect generalization
    2. Post it as concisely as possible
    3. ??? (Something involving moronic moderators
    4. KARMA!!!

    --
    True story.
  16. Tin Foil people, please observe by Shimmer · · Score: 4, Funny

    This article is from the Washington Post, not from Microsoft. Please adjust your conspiracy theories accordingly.

    --
    The most rabid believers in American Exceptionalism are the exact same people whose policies are destroying it.
  17. Get a new one... by NotQuiteReal · · Score: 2, Funny
    ssa - this is for victims of spousal abuse, but it's best I could do in 30 seconds.

    I am sure there are other reasons you could get your SSN changed, like "I'm Bill Gates, and every jokester in the world has my SSN..."

    --
    This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
  18. Re:Could happen to you by Mighty+Eris · · Score: 2, Funny

    Just hang out in their corporate headquarters and watch the tickertape. I'm sure you'll find something interesting...

  19. Re:Kazaa and Gnutella are cooler by cpex · · Score: 3, Funny
    Go into kazaa and gnutella and search for any .doc files. Or some likely sounding names like "resume" or "job application"

    I dont know about you but the more people that see my resume the better.

    JV

  20. Re:Um. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Close. Those were the plans for the Earth-basesd bypass. The galactic bypass plans were just kept on Alpha Centauri.

  21. WMDs by EduardoFonseca · · Score: 2, Funny

    Damn! I tried to search for the WMDs on Google...Not even Google could find them! hehehe...

  22. We MUST shut down google NOW! by Tyir · · Score: 2, Funny

    Google and Janet Jackson's right boob are CLEARLY the causes of the deterioration of our society!!!!!!!!!

  23. search engines, you say? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Sounds to me like these "search engines" are nothing more than tools used by those "internet hackers" for their evil deeds. Lets all write letters to our congressmen; these criminals can be tolerated no longer!

  24. Re:Fuck that shit by micromoog · · Score: 4, Funny
    More specifically, it says "Please do not enter my house and steal my jewelery and banknotes which are in the safe in the bottom-right of the bedroom closet."

    The safe, however, should be locked.

  25. Re:Google threatens privacy and national security by jasonditz · · Score: 3, Funny

    How can we not hold Mapblast (how's that name for irony!) partially responsible for the Two Towers tragedy

    I'd pin most of it on Saruman.

  26. Good Circle of Reasoning. by twitter · · Score: 2, Funny
    f Bill Gates is using the same SS # that was leaked in 1995, then he is a total moron. He is not a moron. Therefore he is not using the same SS # that was leaked in 1995. QED

    f Bill Gates is using the same broswer that he pushed in 1995, then he is a total moron. He is not a moron. Therefore he is not using the same browser that he pushed in 1995,IE, QED

    dumb, de-dumb, dumb.

    Nice of MSNBC to malign the thing M$ can neither match nor buy.

    --

    Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.

  27. Re:Um. by shaka · · Score: 4, Funny

    If it's sensitive, it shouldn't be world readable. Ever. It shouldn't matter if you know that htttp://www.CIA.gov/secret/topsecret/locationsOfAl lAgentsInTheWorld.xls is where the file is; the server shouldn't let anyone load it.

    Dude, if you think writing "htttp" with three t:s and put a space in the URL is gonna stop people from finding that document, you're pretty behind to tell you the truth.

    I do wonder, however, how YOU knew the location of locationsOfAllAgentsInTheWorld.xls? That's supposed to be a secret!

    --
    :wq!