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GMail Chat/GTalk Sending Chats To Wrong Recipients

mystikkman writes "In what is a serious bug, GMail Chat/GTalk/Google Hangouts is sending messages to unintended recipients. ZDNet has confirmed first-hand that the glitch is present within Google Apps for Business accounts, including those that have not yet switched over to Google's new Hangouts platform. Messages appear to be visible on the mobile version of Hangouts. There are multiple reports of this issue."

70 of 109 comments (clear)

  1. Ctrl-alt-del by suso · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yeah, that was a mistake, how many times have I accidentally rebooted Linux because I was trying to login to my windows vm.

    1. Re:Ctrl-alt-del by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      /slowclap Bravo

    2. Re:Ctrl-alt-del by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Can't tell if this is an actual mistake or the best post ever.

    3. Re:Ctrl-alt-del by SonicBurst · · Score: 4, Informative

      Whomever modded this offtopic needs to read the front page. And then mod it funny.

      --

      Geek used to be a four letter word. Now it's a six-figure one.
    4. Re:Ctrl-alt-del by geek · · Score: 3, Informative

      Yeah, that was a mistake, how many times have I accidentally rebooted Linux because I was trying to login to my windows vm.

      Comedy fucking gold. Bravo to you sir

    5. Re:Ctrl-alt-del by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      I tried /slowclap in Hangouts it didn't work nearly as good as /ponies or /pitchforks

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    6. Re:Ctrl-alt-del by Nerdfest · · Score: 2, Funny

      I'm a regular poster and haven't had mod points in over two years. I'm getting a little annoyed.

    7. Re:Ctrl-alt-del by Yetihehe · · Score: 4, Funny

      On the other hand I post very rarely and sometimes I have mod points even when I don't post. Maybe somehow slashdot also sends mod points to wrong users?

      --
      Extreme Programming - Redundant Array of Inexpensive Developers
    8. Re:Ctrl-alt-del by Victor_0x53h · · Score: 1

      I remember this actually happened on Slashdot a few years back. I believe this post provides the breakdown of what happened (or a similar goof).

    9. Re:Ctrl-alt-del by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 2

      There's no reason it can't be both.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    10. Re:Ctrl-alt-del by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      Can't tell if this is an actual mistake or the best post ever.

      It's definitely the best first post commenting on two articles at once.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    11. Re:Ctrl-alt-del by Rob_Bryerton · · Score: 1

      I've actually done one better (or worse, actually). In the data center at work, there was a rack of Linux servers running Oracle databases & apps, and 1 Windows server (the backup server). The KVM was *always* set to the Windows box, and I'd occasionally log in to it to do something or other; it was my "main" Windows box where I had all my odd & ends (jumpbox/utilities/etc).

      So the routine was, pull out the KVM, flip up the screen, hit Ctl-Alt-Del, start typing my user name as the screen faded to life; it became routine.

      And it was *always* set to the Windows server. Except that one time it was set to the production linux database server! As the screen faded in, I saw the dreaded message: "System going down for reboot now!". Oh. Shit.

      Lesson learned. I had fun explaining that one.

  2. Bigbama watching yall chats yo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    > GMail Chat/GTalk Sending Chats To Wrong Recipients

    You mean besides the NSA?

    1. Re:Bigbama watching yall chats yo by NatasRevol · · Score: 1

      Still better than iMessage for Android aka i-send-your-login-to-China-Message

      --
      There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
    2. Re:Bigbama watching yall chats yo by cod3r_ · · Score: 1

      NSA backdoor is what is causing the bug. Wish they'd test their shit before they just infringed on our privacy.

  3. Breaking news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Reports are emerging that another bug in GTalk is causing computers to catch on fire. This caused a 200% increase in the Google Hangouts user base going up to a record high of 18 people.

    1. Re:Breaking news by peon_a-z,A-Z,0-9$_+! · · Score: 2

      I can't speak for all demographics, but as a 25-year-old, a large amount of people in my age group across different professional disciplines use GTalk throughout the workday. So from my perspective, who isn't using GTalk?

  4. Uh oh by Dunbal · · Score: 1

    Someone needs to tame that wild pointer before it pokes someone in the eye! Seriously though, isn't this part of all that "information sharing" we're doing now, since nothing is private anymore and the gov't feels entitled to read your email?

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  5. Paris by beefoot · · Score: 1

    I sent Christie an email asking her to meet me at the lobby at a hotel I'm saying here in Paris. No wonder my wife called this morning to find out what I'm doing in Paris with Christie. I told her I'm reading slashdot at my best buddy's basement.

  6. Seems to be fixed? by mwn3d · · Score: 2

    According to http://www.google.com/appsstatus it seems to have been fixed

    1. Re:Seems to be fixed? by Chrisq · · Score: 1

      Not now.

    2. Re:Seems to be fixed? by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      But how do we know whether the Apps Status page is working correctly?

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  7. Google = buggy by scottbomb · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm often amazed by how buggy Google software is. They have more money than they know what to do with and yet they put out some of the buggiest software. Google Drive is a disaster. I love Google Earth and use it daily but it crashed about 3 times yesterday. Maybe they should invest some of that money in quality control.

    1. Re:Google = buggy by geek · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'm often amazed by how buggy Google software is. They have more money than they know what to do with and yet they put out some of the buggiest software. Google Drive is a disaster. I love Google Earth and use it daily but it crashed about 3 times yesterday. Maybe they should invest some of that money in quality control.

      I was saying this same thing a couple weeks ago to a friend. Google software is notoriously bad in quality. They have what seems to be zero QA and just release everything as beta. That was great when they were solely a tech company targeting the tech savy but they are mainstream now and targeting everyone.

      I honestly can't think of anything of theirs that isn't buggy as hell. Nice tech but the user experience is very low for a company that prides itself on the quality of its engineers.

    2. Re:Google = buggy by Falkentyne · · Score: 1

      What kind of bugs do you have with Google Drive? My company uses it for a spreadsheet that 3-4 people make changes to with another 3-4 additional viewers. The one problem I have is the constant pauses and disconnects. I'm sick of the "working" and "ooooops we lost all your shit" messages. I've taken to keeping notepad open and typing everything in there and pasting it from there when it starts acting up.

      I haven't been keeping up on other free alternatives - if there's something better out there I'll switch the company over. Although in a few months the spreadsheet won't be needed anymore *shrug*

    3. Re:Google = buggy by geek · · Score: 1

      Nice tech but the user experience is very low for a company that prides itself on the quality of its engineers.

      I know... it's such a shame that the engineers are busy building the cool tech, so they aren't helping out the design and sales team with their brilliance.

      What does the sales team have to do with it? Oh yeah, nothing, you're just being a douche. And yes, the engineers should be working with the design people. It's called team work and it's why Apple is able to delivery remarkably less buggy software with a good user experience while Google tosses shit at the wall hoping something sticks.

    4. Re:Google = buggy by QBasicer · · Score: 1

      And then you have Apple Maps, yikes.

      --
      x86, oh yes, I'm pro.
    5. Re:Google = buggy by jittles · · Score: 1

      I'm often amazed by how buggy Google software is. They have more money than they know what to do with and yet they put out some of the buggiest software. Google Drive is a disaster. I love Google Earth and use it daily but it crashed about 3 times yesterday. Maybe they should invest some of that money in quality control.

      And to add insult to injury, the latest version of gmail will not let you attach a document to an email without first uploading it to drive. I am sure it works fine if you use an imap mail client, but the web-client is no good.

    6. Re:Google = buggy by Urza9814 · · Score: 2

      Interesting. I can't recall ever encountering a single bug in any Google app. Hell I've noticed more bugs from my freakin Nintendo than from Google software...

      Of course, I don't use Google Drive, or Earth or anything like that...just search, gmail, youtube, voice, android, plus....

    7. Re:Google = buggy by Nerdfest · · Score: 1

      From what I've seen of iCloud, Apple could learn a lot about both quality, functionality, and openness. Some of their software seems pretty solid, but their web stuff seems flakey as hell.

    8. Re:Google = buggy by Sarten-X · · Score: 1

      Sales teams are, in my experience, usually the ones running demos. Since they're generally not technology-minded people, they also make for decent testers, and can give valuable feedback about where interfaces aren't intuitive - usually because that's the point in the demo where they have to pull out the reassuring comments and distracting details to cover up how sloppy the system is.

      I agree that Google should be emphasizing teamwork to produce better interfaces, but that's utterly unrelated to the "quality of its engineers". It's not an engineering problem.

      --
      You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
    9. Re:Google = buggy by phantomfive · · Score: 5, Informative

      You shouldn't be surprised when they have engineers who publicly say things like "bugs are no big deal. They happen anyway, no matter how hard you try to prevent them, and somehow life goes on." (if you read the article you'll see he said "bugs are no big deal" in bold).

      So stop worrying. When Google Earth crashes, it's no big deal. The fact that a message intended for my girl friend got sent to my sister-in-law, no big deal.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    10. Re:Google = buggy by geek · · Score: 1

      iCloud does go down a little more often than it should but Google's service have been down nearly as often this year. Just two days ago gmail was down. You really can't compare the cloud service to their software.

    11. Re:Google = buggy by geek · · Score: 1

      Thank you for proving my point

    12. Re:Google = buggy by totallyarb · · Score: 1

      Just out of curiosity, exactly how much money have you paid Google for their software?

      --
      -- Note to Mods: There is a good reason there's no "-1 Disagree" option. --
    13. Re:Google = buggy by sycodon · · Score: 1

      I regularly get email that is clearly addressed to someone else. The addresses are similar like RSmith and R.Smith. I mentioned it to Google several years ago and they dismissed it. Sometime "smart" people can be real dicks.

      --
      When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
    14. Re:Google = buggy by phantomfive · · Score: 2

      Just out of curiosity, exactly how much money have you paid Google for their software?

      Enough to complain when it breaks. Service is free, complaints are free.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    15. Re:Google = buggy by Obfuscant · · Score: 1

      Just out of curiosity, exactly how much money have you paid Google for their software?

      My ISP is paying them to mismanage my email and search through it for juicy tidbits and advertising hints, and I pay my ISP, so indirectly, I'm paying them a bundle.

      Also, my Uni is now paying them for cloud services and pushing us to use them, so my taxes are paying them even more.

      What was your point again?

    16. Re:Google = buggy by luder · · Score: 1

      rsmith@gmail.com and r.smith@gmail.com are exactly the same email address. Same for r.s.m.i.t.h@gmail.com.

      That problem usually happens when you use the email r.smith@gmail.com and the sender is trying to email rsmith2@gmail.com, but forgets the number and instead emails rsmith@gmail.com. I get that kind of emails very often, too, but I can't see what google could do here.

    17. Re:Google = buggy by phantomfive · · Score: 2

      The one problem I have is the constant pauses and disconnects. I'm sick of the "working" and "ooooops we lost all your shit" messages

      Those sound like serious bugs.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    18. Re:Google = buggy by Lithdren · · Score: 1

      What is a map app other than 'data on the backend'?

      Either the maps are useful, and therefore the app is useful, or the maps are horribly buggy pieces of garbage, leaving the app a horrible buggy piece of garbage. Just because you like Apple doesn't mean their Map app is worth...anything at all.

    19. Re:Google = buggy by cusco · · Score: 1

      Since when? I sent my friend some photos of our anniversary party just yesterday, and it worked fine.

      --
      "Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
    20. Re:Google = buggy by jittles · · Score: 1

      Since when? I sent my friend some photos of our anniversary party just yesterday, and it worked fine.

      Photos you can send. Not "Office" documents. And that was as of night before last, at the latest. Any none-image format has to be uploaded to drive first.

    21. Re:Google = buggy by cusco · · Score: 1

      Just sent myself a Word document. Attached it as normal. I'm using the free consumer version, not sure if that makes a difference.

      --
      "Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
    22. Re:Google = buggy by QBasicer · · Score: 1

      What's wrong with Cape Breton? It's a lovely place to visit (says the mainlander)

      --
      x86, oh yes, I'm pro.
    23. Re:Google = buggy by heypete · · Score: 1

      And to add insult to injury, the latest version of gmail will not let you attach a document to an email without first uploading it to drive. I am sure it works fine if you use an imap mail client, but the web-client is no good.

      Sure you can.

      Attachments that are too large (either exceeding the Gmail size limit or that of well-known recipient domains that Gmail knows about) will prompt you to upload the attachment to drive rather than trying to attach it directly.

      That's actually a pretty handy, user-friendly thing to do.

    24. Re:Google = buggy by jittles · · Score: 1

      Just sent myself a Word document. Attached it as normal. I'm using the free consumer version, not sure if that makes a difference.

      Seriously? Did they upgrade you to the new inbox yet? For my business account it works as usual, but my personal account will not let me attach anything except from Drive. This was via Safari on OS X. I didn't try any other browsers or platforms.

    25. Re:Google = buggy by jittles · · Score: 2

      And to add insult to injury, the latest version of gmail will not let you attach a document to an email without first uploading it to drive. I am sure it works fine if you use an imap mail client, but the web-client is no good.

      Sure you can.

      Attachments that are too large (either exceeding the Gmail size limit or that of well-known recipient domains that Gmail knows about) will prompt you to upload the attachment to drive rather than trying to attach it directly.

      That's actually a pretty handy, user-friendly thing to do.

      I was trying to attach a 25kb word document. I could do so from my business account but not from my personal account. It kept taking me to Drive. Maybe something buggy was going on, but it would not let me. You're not the first person to tell me this. Now I know they just recently updated my inbox - it appears differently on gmail for iOS and gmail for Android than my business account. Perhaps this has something to do with it?

    26. Re:Google = buggy by Ralph+Wiggam · · Score: 1

      I love Google Earth and use it daily but it crashed about 3 times yesterday

      You should ask Google for a refund of the purchase price.

    27. Re:Google = buggy by Ralph+Wiggam · · Score: 1

      I'll bet you $100 that scottbomb isn't paying that.

  8. Re:Hangouts was a HUGE mistake by i+kan+reed · · Score: 1

    But, see, how else is google going to push their unwanted social network on us(besides bugging you every time you watch a youtube video, modifying your search results to promote google+ results, emailing all gmail users, and never shutting up about it)?

  9. It's really the new fad... by Junta · · Score: 1

    Of the big, valuable, 'hot' companies, they all are producing increasingly dubious products.

    Netflix loves to crash on me and keel off midstream ever so often. Then of course there are the outages. All this whilst their team brags about how awesome they are at availability.

    Apple has had a litany of clock mistakes, unlock screen bypass, and of course the maps situation. I will say I don't use Apple products, so this is second hand experience.

    Amazon... well about the only thing that seems to work really well is their own web presence. Their prime instant viewing does indeed make netflix look good by comparison. I will say I never used a Fire, so I can't attest to that. EC2 has pretty frequent outages that take down a bunch of big players. Lot's of people come out of the woodwork to white knight and say 'if the clients did it *right*, they wouldn't be so bothered', but it seems self evident that after all this time those major sites still can't figure it out, it's obviously not as viable model as some people desperately want to believe for some reason.

    It's as if the entire industry has lost all patience and risks flaky, crappy behavior for the sake of releasing something that sounds exciting and novel.

    --
    XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
  10. Beta by Frankie70 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Such bugs are usually there in Beta releases. This will be fixed in the Production Release.

    1. Re:Beta by Sez+Zero · · Score: 2

      Such bugs are usually there in Beta releases. This will be fixed in the Production Release.

      No, these bugs are in beta. In the production release, they'll be full-blown vulnerabilities or exploits.

    2. Re:Beta by steelfood · · Score: 1

      Google does not release software for production. They have Idea, Alpha, Beta, User Testing, and Rewrite.

      --
      "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
  11. Re:Hangouts was a HUGE mistake by Rob+the+Bold · · Score: 1

    But, see, how else is google going to push their unwanted social network on us(besides bugging you every time you watch a youtube video, modifying your search results to promote google+ results, emailing all gmail users, and never shutting up about it)?

    I ended up deleting my youtube account just to make the pestering stop. I didn't really need an account, I only used it to bookmark video producers I liked. And the google+ signup required for hangout just moved me away from google talk. Really, I just got rid of a "social network," I don't want another, even one that I don't use -- or don't use on purpose. Who knows what google might decide to post for me? And if I don't check, I wouldn't know. So I figured it was a maintenance hassle on my part.

    Gtalk was nice. I could sent gvoice calls to my PC. When cell service got bad in my neighborhood, that was really handy. But not worth the hassle now. I know, I know, this is slashdot, and someone will call me "entitled" for stating what I want, as if my wishes had the force of law or something.

    --
    I am not a crackpot.
  12. No, it's right by corando · · Score: 1

    It's working as designed, the NSA was an intended recipient... oh, sorry, wrong story.

  13. How does wrong recipient decr-- oh. OH! ...oh. :( by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    This shouldn't even be counted as a bug; it's merely the publicity for a crippling design flaw. Why? Because it doesn't matter if the wrong recipient gets a message, since the wrong recipient won't have the private key in order to decrypt the message. Sounds like just a minor delivery bug.

    Wait... whaddya mean, "whaddya mean, 'key'?"? This is a chat system designed after 1991, and it still doesn't encrypt? Google, you're a few decades behind, when it comes to the tech that our 386s are able to handle.

  14. Re:How does wrong recipient decr-- oh. OH! ...oh. by Hatta · · Score: 1

    That was my thought at first, but it's still possible to make this kind of mistake with public key encryption. If the software sends your message to the wrong person, it would probably encrypt with the wrong public key as well.

    --
    Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
  15. Damn! by NEDHead · · Score: 1

    Are telling me the chat I got about winning the Nigerian Lottery might have been meant for someone else?

    1. Re:Damn! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Are telling me the chat I got about winning the Nigerian Lottery might have been meant for someone else?

      Yes, it was meant for me, but if you provide me with your bank account info, and send me half the fee's for getting the money release, I'll split it with you.

    2. Re:Damn! by NEDHead · · Score: 1

      That seems perfectly reasonable, but since I don't know you perhaps you could give my friend here a wad of cash as earnest money just so I know I can trust you.

  16. "bug" sends posts to "wrong" person by mythix · · Score: 1

    So they send all posts to NSA?

  17. Re:What the hell, Google?! by taxman_10m · · Score: 1

    I haven't heard anything bad about the new Nexus 7. What's the problem?

  18. GMail has a problem too by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Coincidence or not, but today I received an out of office reply to an outlook invite sent internally to someone I know at another company. Instead of replying to the sender of the invite, at the same company, GMail seems to have picked my name from the contacts and sent it to me (EXTERNAL). WTF Google? Now I am waiting for something totally confidential to come my way. Note to black hats: get yourself into the contact list of as many people as possible using GMail. You never know what leaks out ...

  19. "In what is a serious bug" by ubrgeek · · Score: 1

    In what is serious understatement...

    --
    Bark less. Wag more.
  20. Re:What the hell, Google?! by cusco · · Score: 1

    Receiving texts the day after they were sent is a little pathetic.

    I got used to that when my employer changed to Sprint for cell service. Sometimes got voice mails as much as a week after they were left.

    --
    "Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
  21. Feature, not bug: Chatroulette mode by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    C'mon everyone, this is a feature, not a bug! Anyone want to chatroulette?

  22. Re:What the hell, Google?! by ichthus · · Score: 1

    Here's a nice summary, though you could have Googled it yourself (that still works).

    Basically, to put it somewhat humorously, this tablet keeps touching itself.

    --
    sig: sauer