Google first introduced this technology in early 2019 as the Password Checkup extension. In October 2019, it became a part of the Password Checkup in your Google Account, where you can conduct a scan of your saved passwords anytime. It has evolved to offer warnings as you browse the web in Chrome. 

While this is a useful feature, and the integration with the Chrome browser makes it seamless, one important point that most coverage ignores or downplays is that the browser can only check passwords that the user is storing in their Google account as part of Chrome's built-in Password Manager. If you're using a separte password manager (e.g., LastPass, 1Password), Chrome's Password Checkup feature will not be able to access your stored passwords to check them.

Similarly, if you have set up a passphrase to encrypt the passwords stored in your Google account (recommended) the Password Checkup feture cannot acces them to check them.

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Google is shutting down its social networking site after "reportedly failing to publicly disclose a security bug affecting hundreds of thousands of accounts on the service," (according to CNN).

The "security bug" is reportedly far-reaching. According to The Washington Post, "Google is shutting down its long-shunned Plus social network for consumers, following its disclosure of a flaw discovered in March that could have exposed some personal information of up to 500,000 people."

The Verge blamed the closure on "the company [Google] reportedly fear[ing] regulatory scrutiny."

The story was originally reported in the Wall Street Journal in advance of a blog post from Google announcing the closure.

In its blog post, Google indicated that data that was potentially exposed was limited:

This data is limited to static, optional Google+ Profile fields including name, email address, occupation, gender and age. (See the full list on our developer site.) It does not include any other data you may have posted or connected to Google+ or any other service, like Google+ posts, messages, Google account data, phone numbers or G Suite content.

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One of the products that caught my attention at the 2017 show is a USB storage device that claims to be “the world’s first unlimited capacity USB drive,” called “Moore.” I’m still not sure which of the above categories it fits into yet.

If you’re like me, you probably have thousands of data files saved on various internal and external hard drives. Currently, between active files and backups, I have a half-dozen hard drives on the desk in my office with the ability to hold 12 TB of data. The idea of “unlimited” storage in a single device is very appealing. However, even if you’ve had zero physics courses in high school or college, you’re probably wondering how “unlimited” storage could be possible.

As shown at CES, the device itself looks like every other thumb drive you have ever used. It has the ability to store 64 GB of data on the device itself—the “infinite” storage comes in the form of cloud storage. So, you would have access to any of the unlimited amount of data that you have stored on the company’s cloud server as long as you have an Internet connection. Without an Internet connection, you’re limited to the 64 GB of data that Moore can store locally.

The promised innovation of “unlimited capacity” would come from how Moore manages the local files versus the files stored in the cloud. Moore promises to use “machine learning” (aka artificial intelligence) to “know” which files you are most likely to use and to have them available on the device. It will “learn,” over time, which files you use most often and make them available on the local device, shifting other files that you use less often back to the cloud. A representative at CES also said that Moore would also be able to learn to make other files that are related to the ones you access most often, available locally on the device.

While the company claims that you can have access to your files with or without an Internet connection, this is a bit of an oversell. Sure, you can access the locally-stored files without an Internet connection. As you probably guessed, you cannot access any of the cloud-stored files without an Internet connection. If you’re on an airplane and hadn’t planned ahead by storing specific files on the Moore USB thumb drive, you’d have to hope that Moore had learned enough about your file-using habits to have the files you really wanted to work on available on the device. If it didn’t, you’re out of luck accessing that file until you’re connected to the Internet again. One bonus of Moore over any other USB drive is that any changes you make to files stored on the Moore device will be synced with the versions stored in the cloud the next time you connect to the Internet.

What remains unclear, however, is how the initial decisions are made on which data to store locally and which get immediately shunted to the cloud.

Data stored on the company’s cloud servers is protected using AES 128 bit encryption. In transit between the cloud servers and the USB device, the data is protected using the HTTPS secure transfer protocol. The USB device itself also uses AES 128 bit encryption and can be password protected. (In a 2012 article, EE Times estimated that it would take a supercomputer over a billion years to check all the possible key combinations of AES 128 bit encryption.)

The device’s name is derived from “Moore’s Law,” in which Intel co-founder Gordon Moore observed that the number of transistors per square inch on integrated circuits had doubled every year since their invention and would likely continue for the foreseeable future. (Moore’s estimation actually proved to be a little low. The current rate is that transistors are doubling once every eighteen months.)

The product remains in development and is not yet available for retail purchase. Pricing has not yet been set for the device or monthly cloud storage. Depending on the final pricing, the device could be useful as an encrypted, password-protected, USB storage device to protect client-confidential information… the encrypted cloud storage would be a bonus.

A version of this article originally appeared on the American Bar Association, Law Practice Division's Law Technology Today webisite.

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Anyone using public wi-fi hotspots to connect to the Internet should be concerned about the security and privacy of the information they are sending back and forth over those connections.

There are many security options you can employ to better-insure that privacy and security - like using services that encrypt your data in transit or Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). For many casual, or even business users, the added step of having to install and configure VPN software may seem like too much. For some others, remembering to connect via the VPN software once it is installed is the hurdle between them and greater security. 

As the name implies, Virtual Private Network products add a (virtual private) layer of security over the available public wi-fi network connection.

The developers behind the Opera web browser are trying to make it easier for anyone to connect to the Internet using an encrypted connection with the inclusion of "a free, unlimited, native VPN that just works out-of-the-box and doesn’t require any subscription," in the newest versions of the browser.

Most existing VPN services have only been available on some sort of subscription basis. "Opera wants to make VPNs available to everyone," the company said in a blog post announcing the VPN feature.

The Opera web browser is available as a free download for computers running Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. 

To activate the VPN:

• Mac - click the Opera menu, select “Preferences” and toggle the feature VPN to "On."
• Windows and Linux - go to the “Privacy and Security” section in “Settings” and enable VPN there. A button will appear in the browser address field, from which the user can see and change location (more locations will appear later), check whether their IP is exposed and review statistics for their data used.

Some of the options it offers include:

• Hide your IP address – Opera will replace your IP address with a virtual IP address, so it’s harder for sites to track your location and identify your computer. This means you can browse the web more privately.
• Unblocking of firewalls and websites – Many schools and workplaces block video-streaming sites, social networks and other services. By using a VPN you can access your favorite content, no matter where you are.
• Public Wi-Fi security – When you’re surfing the web on public Wi-Fi, intruders can easily sniff data. By using a VPN, you can improve the security of your personal information.

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