All news with #google tag

🔐 Google is developing Merkle Tree Certificates (MTCs) in Chrome to make HTTPS certificates resilient to future quantum attacks while avoiding the bandwidth cost of adding post‑quantum algorithms to traditional X.509 chains. Working with Cloudflare and the PLANTS working group, Chrome proposes a model where a CA signs a single tree head and browsers receive lightweight proofs of inclusion. Google is running a feasibility study (Phase 1), plans to invite compatible Certificate Transparency logs in Q1 2027 (Phase 2), and aims to finalize requirements and launch a Chrome Quantum‑resistant Root Store (CQRS) and MTC-only root program by Q3 2027.

🔐 Chrome has launched an initiative to protect HTTPS from future quantum threats by redesigning certificate mechanics with Merkle Tree Certificates (MTCs). Rather than enlarging X.509 certificates, MTCs use compact Merkle proofs and a single signed tree head to authenticate sites, reducing TLS handshake data and embedding transparency into issuance. Chrome is testing MTCs with Cloudflare and plans a phased rollout through 2027.

🛡 Unit 42 discovered CVE-2026-0628, a high-severity flaw in Chrome's new Gemini Live panel that allowed extensions with only declarativeNetRequest permissions to inject JavaScript into the privileged panel context. That injection could escalate extension privileges to access camera and microphone, read local files, take screenshots and render phishing content inside a trusted browser UI. Google was notified on 2025-10-23 and issued a patch in early January 2026. Palo Alto Networks recommends mitigations such as Prisma Browser and related protections.

🚀 At MWC Barcelona, Google Cloud outlines a shift from AI-driven insights to agentic telco operations, showcasing tools that embed AI into network control to achieve Level 4–5 autonomy. The company highlights a dynamic network digital twin, a unified graph data layer using Spanner Graph and BigQuery, and real-time GNN predictions in Vertex AI. New open-source telco data pipelines and two proof-of-value agents — a data steward and autonomous network agents — aim to accelerate trials and reduce legacy bottlenecks.

⚠️ Truffle Security found nearly 3,000 Google Cloud API keys (prefix "AIza") embedded in client-side code that can now authenticate to Gemini endpoints when a project enables the Generative Language API. Attackers scraping sites can use exposed keys to access uploaded files, cached contents, and make LLM calls that charge victims' accounts. Google says it has implemented measures to detect and block leaked keys and advises rotating and restricting exposed keys.

🔒 Researchers at Truffle Security discovered that Google Cloud API keys, historically described as simple billing identifiers (prefix Aiza), began functioning as authentication tokens for embedded Gemini AI instances. A Common Crawl scan in November found 2,863 live, publicly exposed keys, including from major firms and Google itself, which could be used to retrieve uploaded files, cached context, or to consume API quota and incur charges. Google confirmed the issue after disclosure, restricted affected keys, and advises administrators to audit and rotate keys.

🔐 Chrome announces a staged program to support quantum-resistant HTTPS by adopting Merkle Tree Certificates (MTCs), which replace long X.509 signature chains with compact Merkle inclusion proofs. The approach reduces bandwidth costs and decouples cryptographic strength from transmitted size, preserving TLS performance. Chrome is testing MTCs with Cloudflare and plans phased deployment with a new Chrome Quantum-resistant Root Store.

🧠 This article describes a polyglot storage pattern on Google Cloud to preserve conversational continuity for scaled chatbots. It recommends Memorystore for Redis for sub‑millisecond short‑term context, Cloud Bigtable as a petabyte‑scale mid‑term system of record, and BigQuery for long‑term archival and analytics. The design delegates unstructured artifacts to Cloud Storage and uses an async pipeline to balance low latency and durable persistence. Practical configuration and migration pointers help teams implement responsive, analyzable agent memory.

🤖 Apigee API Hub and API Gateway now integrate to centralize dispersed API metadata and make specs agent-ready. A new API Gateway–API Hub sync brings OpenAPI definitions and gateway configurations into a single control plane without changing existing services or client behavior. The spec boost add-on analyzes gaps and produces a specboost-draft that enriches specs with examples, parameter validation, and error details. Teams can review boosted and original specs side-by-side before adopting changes.

🛡️ Royal Hansen, VP Engineering at Google, outlines how Google Cloud is confronting emergent cybersecurity risks as AI reshapes the threat landscape. He emphasizes AI-powered malware, supply-chain and training-data poisoning, and governance challenges tied to loss-of-control of AI infrastructure. Google is advancing controls—tamper-proof provenance, model-level protections, Identity and Access Management, and treating prompts like code—while rolling out agentic workflows to augment SOC teams. The post also consolidates recent threat intelligence, incident responses, and practitioner resources.

🔓 Google Cloud API keys that were once treated as non-sensitive can now authenticate to the Gemini generative AI assistant, creating a new attack path where keys embedded in client-side JavaScript expose private assistant data. TruffleSecurity discovered nearly 2,800 live, publicly accessible keys across sectors — including financial firms and a Google product — by scanning the November 2025 Common Crawl. Attackers who copy exposed keys can call Gemini endpoints to retrieve data or generate costly API usage; developers should audit projects for the Generative Language API, rotate exposed keys immediately, and use detection tools to prevent abuse.

🚀 The preview of the Spanner columnar engine enables low-latency serving of Apache Iceberg lakehouse data with Spanner’s horizontal scale and strong consistency. It adds a columnar storage layer and vectorized execution to accelerate analytical scans — Google cites up to 200× faster scans — while isolating heavy analytical queries from transactional workloads. The feature supports on-demand columnar conversion, automatic query routing, and reverse ETL integrations with BigQuery, Databricks, Snowflake and Oracle to make curated analytical data available for real-time applications.

🚀 PayPal completed a multi-year, large-scale migration of more than 300 petabytes of analytics data into BigQuery on Google Cloud to create a unified data foundation for generative AI. The initiative consolidated disparate platforms — including Teradata, Hadoop, Redshift, and Snowflake — and reduced vendor complexity. PayPal automated migration tasks, used live dashboards, and integrated FinOps to maintain zero business downtime while enabling faster queries and much fresher data for AI model training.

🖼️ Nano Banana 2 is Google’s latest image-generation and editing model, delivering Pro-level image quality and fast iteration for enterprise creative workflows. Powered by real-time web search and integrated with Gemini API in Vertex AI, it provides accurate, localized visuals plus premium features like text rendering, translations, and upscaling to 2K/4K. Enterprise-ready provenance is supported via SynthID and interoperable C2PA Content Credentials to surface how AI was used.

🔒 Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) and partners disrupted UNC2814, a prolific cyber-espionage campaign with suspected links to China that operated since 2017 and targeted governments and telecommunications across multiple continents. Researchers identified a novel backdoor, GridTide, which abused Google Sheets as a covert command-and-control channel to execute shell commands and transfer files. Google terminated attacker-controlled Cloud Projects, disabled accounts, revoked Sheets API access used for C2, and has notified victims while offering remediation support.

🛡️ Google disrupted a China-linked espionage group that repurposed Google Sheets as a covert command-and-control channel to manage a custom backdoor tracked as UNC2814 and named GRIDTIDE. The backdoor abused legitimate Sheets API calls to send commands, retrieve stolen data, poll spreadsheets frequently, and wipe rows to erase traces. Mandiant flagged unusual activity on a CentOS server, leading to discovery of intrusions at 53 organizations across 42 countries focused on telecoms and government systems. Google terminated attacker Cloud projects, revoked API access, sinkholed domains, and published IOCs.

🔒 Android is expanding its AI-driven Scam Detection protections for calls and messages, bringing on-device Gemini models to more Pixel and Samsung Galaxy devices. A real-world example describes a Pixel user who avoided a convincing bank scam after receiving a timely Scam Detection warning during the call. Google Messages protections now cover 20+ countries and multiple languages and have improved detection for sophisticated threats like job-offer and romance “pig butchering” scams. Processing occurs on-device, data aren’t stored or shared, and the feature is off by default and excluded for contacts.

🔒 Google and industry partners disrupted infrastructure used by suspected China-linked espionage group UNC2814, which deployed a C-based backdoor named GRIDTIDE that abuses the Google Sheets API to conceal command-and-control traffic. GRIDTIDE supports file upload/download and arbitrary shell execution and was observed on endpoints containing PII. Google terminated attacker-controlled Cloud projects, disabled abused accounts, and is notifying impacted organizations while offering support.

🔐 Google’s Threat Intelligence Group, Mandiant, and partners disrupted a global espionage campaign attributed to a suspected Chinese actor tracked as UNC2814 that infiltrated telecom firms and government agencies across dozens of countries. The actor deployed a new C-based backdoor named GRIDTIDE that abused the Google Sheets API for covert command-and-control, authenticating with a hardcoded service account key and polling spreadsheet cells for instructions. GRIDTIDE supports execution, upload and download commands via URL-safe Base64 exchanges and hides output in sheet cells; Google and partners disabled cloud projects, revoked API access, sinkholed domains, and offered victim support.

🛡️ Google Threat Intelligence Group, Mandiant, and partners executed a coordinated disruption against a global espionage campaign attributed to UNC2814 that abused cloud services for covert command and control. Investigators identified a novel C-based backdoor called GRIDTIDE that uses Google Sheets APIs as a high-availability C2 channel, protected by an AES-128-CBC key and service account credentials. Actions included terminating attacker-controlled Google Cloud projects, disabling accounts and Sheets API access, sinkholing infrastructure, and publishing IOCs and detection guidance to support defenders.