Google Blacklist Contained Confidential Information at Techcrunch reports that Google’s phishing blacklist, which is publicly available for anyone to see, had confidential information enclosed. Such information included “usernames and passwords of individuals, including credentials for accounts at banks and other financial institutions.” Google has quietly removed the information that may put users at risk, but it just shows us that this can happen.

Danny discussed the other week, his experience with the Google & Firefox 2 Anti-Phishing Warning when he went to his bank online. The Google Blacklist was discovered in September 2006, but has never been locked down fully to just Google (maybe because it can’t). Back then, DaveN commented that the list had usernames and passwords within it, so I am surprised to see this issue come up again.

Related Topics: Google: Security | Google: Toolbar | Search Features: Safety | Toolbars & Add-Ons | Toolbars & Add-Ons: Firefox Browser

About The Author: 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. For more background information on Barry, see his full bio over here. See more articles by Barry Schwartz