Google Drive becomes a goldmine for pirated, explicit content, Telecom News, ET Telecom

Google Drive is a file storage and synchronization service that allows users to store files on their servers, synchronize files between devices, and share files.

According to independent cybersecurity researcher Rajshekhar Rajaharia, thousands of such vulnerabilities and illegal content It gets circulated in compressed files compressed via Google Drive.

“Besides thousands of porn videos, at least 25,000-30,000 links likely share illegal content like malware, software, movies, games, and more. Such links can be easily searched on Google Drive. Just do a search and download Rajaharia spoke on Sunday and shared several screenshots.

The irony is that movies / games / software removed from Google Search due to copyright infringement are available on Google Drive for faster download.

“Unlike other file sharing websites, Google Drive allows faster downloads, so this type of illegal and open content thrives on its platform,” said the cybersecurity researcher.

An email sent to Google did not respond if such content was stored and shared for free on Drive.

Under Google’s terms of service, “We may review content to determine if it is illegal or violates our Program Policies, and we may remove or refuse to display content that we reasonably believe violates our policies or the law. “.

While Google doesn’t go into the details of detection methods, it uses file hashes to detect infringing content.

Google Drive maps the hash of copyrighted video content to files stored by users to identify pirated content. According to media reports, the company does this on a voluntary basis.

According to Rajaharia, Google Drive is dangerous in a sense because it can easily search for anything on its platform compared to other file sharing websites.

“There are thousands of pirated movies, software, mobile applications uploaded to Google Drive and you can easily search on Google,” he said.

About 80 percent of Google Drive movie links are malware. “One wrong click can install malware on your computer or mobile phone,” added Rajaharia.

According to the data he provided, the total Drive links indexed in Google Search is over 10 lakh, but not all of these links are related to piracy / illegal files.

In a statement to Rajaharia, Rajaharia said, “ There are more than 20,000 movie links, more than 2,500 software download links, more than 2,500 APK (Android App Pack) mobile apps, and over 1,500 broken copies of illegal software (not all of which may be pirated. ). “

Google Drive users should also be aware of their actions.

The cybersecurity researcher said, “They should not make pirated movies and other content public on Google Drive, as this will lead to being indexed in Search. They should keep their content private or share links with people they know and trust.”