Google Has A Device Centric Approach

Google talks about its device centric approach.

Alphabet Inc. business segment Google has revealed about its recent approach when it comes to corporate security. This approach might lay the basis for a model that can be used by other companies.

According to search engine giant, they have now deployed a device centric security in contrast to the conventional model that governs on the physical location of users resulting in  “substantially improved the security posture of Google.”

In the Spring issue of ;login, a paper was published that talks about the company’s Beyond Corp initiative in detail. The company had a conventional approach initially that made use of perimeter security firewalls. Back in May, 2015 CIO Journal revealed about the presence of BeyondCorp.

As per the recent model, the access on the resources is linked to the user credentials and device with no regards to the employees network location. This actually means that an employee will be treated as same regardless of what his location is: be it a home, café or office.

The shift however was not that easy to implement and there were numerous challenges associated with it like to manage the complexities whilst dealing with the asset data in the new system as per the paper, every employee device needs to be tracked by Google seamlessly to identify data the employee devices are used to garner corporate apps with relevant information regarding the software on the device has been patched or not. Moreover, even if the device is repaired then even that would be notified.

The authors at Google namely Justin McWilliams, and Max Saltonstall, Barclay Osborn and Betsy Beyer claimed that if the data quality is poor when it comes to asset management then the device loses access unintentionally to the corporate resources. Thus the system will not recognize the user devices then. The problems associated to data quality can happen at a frequent rate when devices are repaired. The components and physical parts of a device are thus replaced or moved within. 

The tech giant has refused to comment on the matter except the information that has surfaced in the published paper pertaining to the obstacles for BeyondCorp.

However if any company succeeds in managing data and overcomes the challenges regarding the device from numerous sources then the new system will subsequently help the company in improving the security claims an analyst.

A renowned analyst and Vice President at Gartner Research, Avivah Litan told the CIO Journal, “With rapid growth in online services, devices are in essence the new identities that must be assessed in order to enable secure access.” She further explained, “It’s very smart to build access policies and control engines around inventoried devices, and to continuously assess the risk and trust level of a device’s state before granting that device access to different resources.”

Google To Offer Internet Access To Remote Indian Regions

Google Loon Project To offer Internet access in remote Indian regions.

Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google has finally started to conduct discussions with various Telecom operators in India so that it can initiate its Google Loon venture. This step is taken after months although Mr. Sundar Pichai, the chief executive officer at the company succeeded in getting support for the venture through the governmental bodies.

During an interview, Mr. Rajan Anandan, the chief of Google India has not completely eliminated the possibility of establishing an Indian office for its initial investment fund for Google ventures in the times to come. The executive has refused to share more details and a timeline for the project to be effective as of yet.

The previous annum, the search engine giant established an office India to facilitate its last stage invest fund for Google Capital.

"Google Capital is here (in India). Google Ventures is only a matter of time... India actually has 50 Series-A investors, we only have five Series-D investors. So, there is a gap in late-stage investing and we decided to close that gap. What are the gaps? How can we as a company help address those gaps? So, that's the lens that we apply — we just don't want to do that because you have something," stated Mr. Anandan, the Google South East Asia and India’s managing director.

At this point of time, the company wishes to streamline its focus on looking after startups which are in their infancy stage rather than establishing Ventures. Anandan claimed that Google Capital will increase the rate of investments in the India market. Thus for the initial stages, the focus should be on mentoring than ventures.

The truth is that there are not ample people who are writing cheques. However, the company is devoted to increasing the products and quality of founders involved in the ventures.

So far Google Capital has made four investments in total and an individual from Google Capital has also been recruited.

The company has plans to make bigger investments in the region he explained. Particularly, for the Loon project. This venture is devoted to providing basic Internet access to remote areas of India. Telecommunication companies in India such as BSNL have been taken in confidence and it seems like a pilot program as per individuals having knowledge about the matter. The sources have asked to remain anonymous. The service provider with whom the company is negotiating is not officially revealed by the tech giant as of yet.

According to him, Loon actually works but on a rather simple level. However, the infrastructure of the service is in the air. The company will join hands with a local telecom operator since the regulator will be responsible to offer the Internet service. Thus various telecom companies in India are likely to be involved.

It is not possible for Google to offer Loon pilot without collaborating with local telecom companies. Thus this project is dependent on the support of both the parties. Remote areas will get Internet access if the negotiations are done swiftly.

AT&T & Google Batlle It Out In Louisville

AT&T & Google battling it out in Louisville over high speed gigabit Internet.

AT&T Inc., the renowned cellular network carrier has filed a lawsuit against the Louisville Metro Council as a reaction to the law which was passed recently. The law was known as “One Touch Make Ready” which enabled the companies to mobilize the equipment installed to the utility poles, so that they could establish theirs. Initially, only those who had installed the equipment could move it.

Earlier in September, Alphabet Inc., made an announcement that Louisville was among its lists of cities that would get access to high speed gigabit Internet. This would actually enable the city officials to make the installation process simpler. This law which now seems to be a warm welcome for Google Fiber, initially had to deal with a lot of criticism by wireless network carriers.

As per the new law passed, all those operators who are interested in installing fiber optic lines, need to get approval from the owner of the pole. Moreover, they also need to acknowledge those firms whose equipment is installed on it. This was done mostly in cases where disruption was reported. As per the lawsuit which was filed at the federal court, AT&T has made a claim that the city does not have the capacity to regulate the utility poles in the vicinity as per the state law. It was also claimed that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules are being violated like this. As per the provision, a notification is required before installation. All the utility poles were initially under the state body known as the Public Service Commission.

As per the company, they do not wish to create hindrances in the entry of search engine giant fast Internet service. However, the battle is against the government who is regulating the official platforms. It needs to be taken into consideration that AT&T is gearing up to launch its Internet service known as GigaPower this annum. As per the governmental bodies, AT&T is the owner of almost 20-40% poles in Louisville.

As per the local government, the legislation passed will ensure that the disturbance in the region gets minimized while the broadband providers come up with their fiber optic service in the city.

As per a tweet by Mayor Greg Fischer: “We will vigorously defend the lawsuit filed today by ATT; gigabit fiber is too important to our city's future @googlefiber”.

In a recent blog post, Chris Levendos, the Director of the National Deployment and Operations, has registered his wrath against the lawsuit filed. He has also talked about his solidarity with the inhabitants of Louisville and is of the belief that the recent initiatives will result in immense competition in the industry. It is also assumed that the pace for installing fiber optic cables will get better gradually. Moreover, attention will be laid on the safety of locals and workers.

Google Will Not Feature Ads On The Right Side Of Search Bar

Google has decided to tweak its ads layout of the search bar.

Alphabet Inc. is one of those companies that are always making changes to its structure and outlook. The company recently reported that it will alter the mechanism of its advertisements and will change the way ads are displayed on the searches done via desktop.

The search engine giant has decided that it will remove the ads from right hand side of the search results and will now put them on the bottom and top layer of the page. The news was initially revealed by The SEM Post however, it got weightage when the tech giant itself confirmed about the move.

It is a common observation that all ads present on Google surface all over the page. This means they are scattered on the bottom, top, right hand side depending upon the nature of the query. By coming up with this change the company will assure that the sidebar remains devoted for the Product Listing Ads.

The initiative taken by the company seems to be strategic since distribution of ads all over the page caused distraction amongst Google users. Following a designated pattern that will remain unanimous throughout will actually help to create uniformity on the platform which symbolizes consistency.

However, the ads present on the right hand side are now being removed for all the relevant queries but a fourth ad (which will be additional) will now be placed on top of the page. It needs to be noted here that the condition only implies on the lucrative searches such as insurance of hotels and cars etc.

The company gave a statement to The Verge according to which, "We’ve been testing this layout for a long time so some people might see it on a very small number of commercial queries.” They further added, "We’ll continue to make tweaks, but this is designed for highly commercial queries where the layout is able to provide more relevant results for people searching and better performance for advertisers."

Another important thing that needs to be noted is that the change made by the company is global and will be implemented on all the languages.

GOOG governs its major revenue stream via advertisements, thus ads play an important in the company’s operation. Making changes to the way it operates creates more room for the company to experiment and come up with the best possible offering for its diversified clientele. By removing the ads from the right side will add another layer of depth in the outlook of the searches which will be attractive.

Another thing that the company has rightfully done is place a fourth ad on the top. Moreover, tey have also mentioned that this particular ad will be lucrative which clearly indicates that the purpose of this advertisement is to intrigue the user. The strategy deployed by Google is quite intriguing and will help them in making the page look cleaner. However, if this doesn’t work out then they can always improvise in the times to come.