Gmail User Gains Access To 30 Other Gmail Accounts Due To ISP Caching Glitch


Google says ISP glitch exposes Gmail data in Kuwait from News.com has confirmed reports that a Gmail user in Kuwait has inadvertently accessed about 30 Gmail accounts that were not his. Supposedly, he also accessed an email that had “keycodes for some embassy gate.”

Whose fault is this? Not Google! A Kuwaiti ISP was having some major caching issues, which results in people seeing other people’s content when accessing the same URL.

Have you ever gone to a web page on your computer and noticed that it was showing old content? That is a web page’s cache. Typically holding down the shift and refresh key will force the page to reload and not use the browser’s local cache. ISPs also use caching to speed up web page delivery to their users. Some pages, such as Gmail, should not be cached at the ISP level. When they are, if one person goes to a URL, it will cache the results of that URL and show it to the next person who accesses that URL.

Scary stuff. The issue was reportedly fixed on Wednesday.



Barry Schwartz is Search Engine Land's News Editor and owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry's personal blog is named Cartoon Barry and he can be followed on Twitter here.

See more articles by Barry Schwartz >


Share, Bookmark & Discuss This Article
More:


Keep Updated: News Via Email | News Via RSS Feed | News Via Twitter


See more stories like this in the Members Library! Check out the Google: Gmail, Legal: Security sections of the Members Library where this story is filed. Members also get access to exclusive video content, a members-only weekly & monthly newsletter, plus more. Check out all the benefits!

Comments are closed.


RECENT COMMNENTS

  • Buy Advertising said " I've been experimenting with the merger of advertising and entertainment. I think that it can be bot"
  • nickstamoulis said " Wow, this is very interesting, I was not aware of the the Google Books case at all, I will be sure t"
  • nickstamoulis said " These are all very cool, my personal favorite 4th logo is the Ask.com layout, it is very creative!"

See All »


FREE DAILY SEARCH NEWS RECAP!

Stay on top of all the search news with our daily summary, the SearchCap newsletter. View a sample ›

STAY CURRENT THROUGHOUT THE DAY

RSS Feeds

The Search Engine Land feed keeps you informed as news happens. SEE ALL FEEDS »

Upcoming Search Engine Land Conferences

Advertise With Us »

Search Engine Land produces SMX, the Search Marketing Expo conference series. SMX events deliver the most comprehensive educational and networking experiences - whether you're just starting in search marketing or you're a seasoned expert.


SMX Web Site » | SMX Difference » | SMX News »


Join us at an upcoming SMX event:

Search Marketing Now Learn more about search marketing with our free online webcasts and webinars from our sister site, Search Marketing Now. Upcoming online events include:


See more webcast topics »

TRACK US SOCIALLY
Upcoming Search Engine Land Conferences

Get Your Search Engine Land
Premium Membership!

Become a premium member today and receive:

  • Express commenting privileges & photo.
  • Exclusive videos & newsletters.
  • Discounts to our SMX conferences.
  • Access to "How To" & Other Archives.

Learn More

Upcoming Search Engine Land Conferences
Add to GoogleAdd to My Yahoo!Add to BloglinesAdd to NetvibesAdd to Windows Live