Security Warning For G-Archiver Users

Posted Mar 12, 2008 | by Jason Faulkner  

Here is a really scary one. Apparently, the developer of G-Archiver (a program which backs up your Gmail) has code embedded in their program which emails the developer user name and passwords of everyone who uses the program. From the article:

John Terry, the apparent creator, hard coded his username and password to his gmail account in source code. All right, not the smartest thing in the world to do, but then I noticed that every time a user adds their account to the program to back up their data, it sends and email with their username and password to his personal email box!

Of course, this was quickly dismissed by G-Archiver as an “flaw” in the code:

What happened was that a member of our development team had inserted coding used for testing G-Archiver in the debug version and forgot to delete it in the final release version.

We sincerely apologize and assure you that this coding mishap was in no way intentional.

Some mishap.

As a developer myself, I agree with the author’s assertation that this is “flaw” was a blatant abuse of user trust as something like this should never ever happen. I could be mistaken and it be a genuine “oversight”, but I doubt it.

If you are a G-Archiver user I would highly recommend you quit using the program and change your Gmail password immediately. Additionally, I would recommend you not use this program ever again.

Which Of These Traits Applies To YOUR Computing Life?...

3 Responses to “Security Warning For G-Archiver Users”

  1. Marion Wredt says:

    I have a gmail account. How do I know if I am using the G-Archiver mentioned in the tip?

  2. Jason Faulkner says:

    G-Archiver is a program you would have downloaded and installed. You could probably find it in your Add/Remove Programs listing.

  3. [...] spyware/viruses than through something people will willingly download? Do you remember the G-Archiver fiasco? On the other hand, these cases are pretty rare and if you have your system properly protected, you [...]

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