Could Google be forced to sell some of its most important assets?
Hackers and scammers alike are always on the lookout for major breaking news that might entice people to click on a link. There’s no bigger news than the US Department of Justice filing a 32-page document asking for the potential sale of parts of its businesses such as Android, the Chrome web browser, and even Play, among other things. shop.
Department of Justice vs. Google
As Forbes reported on August 5, D.C.-based Judge Amit Mehta, in an opinion that sided with the Justice Department along with 11 states, found that Google was acting as a monopolist. The ruling found that Google exercised monopolistic power over the market and charged “hypercompetitive prices for general search text ads,” which amounted to anticompetitive conduct.
Now, U.S. lawyers have submitted a brief laying out several proposals to prevent and rein in Google’s monopolistic behavior. “Plaintiffs seek to limit or terminate Google’s use of agreements, monopoly interests, and other tools to control or influence long-standing and emerging distribution channels and search-related products,” the brief states. We are considering remedial measures.”
Security implications of Google’s breakup
Breaking up Google in this way and forcing some kind of sale, including assets like Android and Chrome, is by no means a done deal. This story will continue, and while it does, there will continue to be opportunities for sinister activity behind the scenes.
And phishing campaigns exploiting uncertainty about Google’s future or interest in this article aren’t the only security threats that rear their ugly heads at Google. LeeAnne Mulholland, Google’s vice president of regulation, warned that “separating Chrome and Android would compromise security and make it harder to fix security bugs.” Features like Safe Browsing in Chrome, security features in Android, and Play Protect in the Play Store all benefit from threat information and intelligence signals from a variety of Google products, along with our long-established threat detection expertise. I am.
