Google fixes Google Desktop

Search engine giant Google has fixed a major security flaw present in their Google Desktop application. This flaw was bad enough to have potentially exposed personal files on users’ computers to data thieves.

Google said in a statement that they currently have no evidence the vulnerability was exploited.

The bug was discovered by the Watchfire Corp., a security-analysis provider late last year. Danny Allan, a researcher at the company said that the problem exists in roughly 80 percent of Web applications.

The researchers discovered that the setup was open to something known as a cross-site scripting attack, which lets an attacker place malicious code on a Google Desktop user’s computer. This means that the victim’s machine could be infected in a variety of ways.

Since, Google Desktop application auto updates itself; most users do not have to do anything manually to get the latest stable release.