Google warns of data security risks if Chrome is sold off Courthouse News Service

pUpdates to our Terms of UseppWe are updating our Terms of Use Please carefully review the updated Terms before proceeding to our websiteppGoogle will continue its defense through May 9 starting with Google CEO Sundar Pichai taking the stand Wednesday morningppWASHINGTON CN Google began its defense Tuesday in the landmark antitrust trial over the tech giants dominance in internet search with a longtime Google executive warning that the governments proposed remedies would present significant security risksppThe Justice Department which rested its case earlier on Tuesday has suggested US District Judge Amit Mehta should release reams of user search data to help rival search engines catch up to Googles level of personalization ppFurther the government has urged Mehta to break off Google Chrome and potentially Android while barring more multibilliondollar default search engine deals with Apple and Mozilla among othersppGoogle has pushed Mehta a Barack Obama appointee to leave the data with the company warning that such publication could expose users to privacy breaches and raise national security concerns due to Googles close work with the US governmentppHeather Adkins vice president of Security Engineering at Google testified that a Chrome divestment would require the buyer to find a way to ensure the browser remains as secure as it had under Googles security infrastructure which she called concerningppShe said that an application like Chrome suffers from a defenders dilemma where it must get everything right when defending against cyberattacks while an attacker only needs to get something right once to gain access ppAdkins added that Google has worked to outpace its rivals in terms of security particularly at a time when statesponsored cyberattacks have become more commonppShe pointed to a 2009 cyberattack by Chinese hackers known as Operation Aurora where 20 US companies were breached including Google to gain access to and potentially modify companies source code ppAdkins described how hackers sent phishing links to Google employees 43 of whom clicked the link Of those 42 opened it through Chrome which quickly identified and blocked the link The final employee opened the link via Internet Explorer which did not catch the malicious link and caused the breach ppAdkins warned that many of the companies that have expressed interest in purchasing a divested Chrome such as OpenAI Yahoo and Perplexity have not signed a Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Secure by Design pledge that Google and 300 others have signedppThe Justice Department pressed Adkins on Googles repeated argument that such a breakup would raise national security concerns for which Adkins had no explanationppDuring opening arguments last Monday Justice Department attorney David Dahlquist urged Mehta to ignore Googles national security argument noting that both ATT and Microsoft said the same during their respective antitrust remedies trials ppThe Justice Departments final witness on Tuesday was Tasneem Chipty an economics consultant and expert in industrial organization who painted a fuller picture of what the governments proposed remedies could look like in practice ppChipty testified that the governments remedies would give distributors like Apple or Samsung a greater incentive to set Googles rivals as the default search engines while Google could still compete to reach users ppShe noted that Google could still buy ads in app stores push promotional reminders in Gmail and YouTube pay users directly for searching on Google and innovate the productppChipty testified that adopting the governments remedies could cut Googles overall market share in search to 51 compared to 88 in 2020ppMehta asked whether users would see a major shift on Day 1 under the governments remedies considering users would still likely view Google as the best search engine Chipty said the remedies would take time to fully implement adding that sharing Google data would speed up that process ppMehta then expressed concern that by opening default agreements to rival companies hed effectively be swapping a Google monopoly for a Microsoft monopoly ppChipty said that Microsoft would still face competition from Google and other search engines especially any new entrants like Apple who she testified could automatically capture 18 of the market ppShe further described the governments remedies as creating an incubation period for approximately five to 10 years for competitors to catch up to Google in terms of quality and begin competing afterwardppGoogle will continue its defense through May 9 starting Wednesday with Google CEO Sundar Pichai on the standppSign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the US and the worldp