In an unusual display of concern, the president of Google Enterprise has made a public statement saying there should be no cause for alarm about Google Apps and its cloud computing infrastructure following a major data breach by a China-based attack on Google and 20 other large enterprise companies. David Girouard, Google's president of Google Enterprise, said in a personally written blog post that Google suffered a massive cyber attack last month. According to the corporate Google blog , the attackers came away from Google with stolen intellectual property. Sponsor Girouard downplayed the impact of the attack. He said Google "believes" the breach did not affect Google Apps customers. Girouard, obviously concerned about the backlash, said the incident may raise some questions about Google security. He said that Google is introducing additional security measures to help ensure the safety of customer's data. There are consistent questions about cloud computing's potential security flaws. Girouard is well aware of this. He tries to make it clear that this incident was not an assault on cloud computing. "It was an attack on the technology infrastructure of major corporations in sectors as diverse as finance, technology, media, and chemical. The route the attackers used was malicious software used to infect personal computers. Any computer connected to the Internet can fall victim to such attacks. While some intellectual property on our corporate network was compromised, we believe our customer cloud-based data remains secure." Girouard comes close to making a sales pitch in his statement, saying, in fact, that Google customers benefit from the Internet giant's investment in data security. "While any company can be subject to such an attack, those who use our cloud services benefit from our data security capabilities. At Google, we invest massive amounts of time and money in security. Nothing is more important to us. Our response to this attack shows that we are dedicated to protecting the businesses and users who have entrusted us with their sensitive email and document information. We are telling you this because we are committed to transparency, accountability, and maintaining your trust." This is an incredible incident that will lead to some major issues for Google Enterprise over the next several months. As the battle heats up for cloud computing supremacy, competitors will pick at this incident as an example of why a company that's more security conscious should be trusted with customer data, not a search engine giant. Discuss

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Google's Top Enterprise Executive: Do Not Be Alarmed by Chinese Cyber Attack

An early-morning decision by the U.S. Supreme court has blocked cameras from a California court room, reversing last week's decision to allow the delayed broadcast of a controversial trial on YouTube . The court is examining the constitutionality of Proposition 8 , the same-sex marriage ban that was voted into law last year. The trial was set to be the first of its kind, with its proceedings broadcast on a delay over YouTube. The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that the ban on its rebroadcast will be in place until at least Wednesday, to give the justices more time to consider the matter. The trial began this morning at 9 a.m. in San Francisco. Sponsor Prop 8 supporters, the side that opposes gay marriage, have been pushing to stop the trial's broadcasting altogether, saying that it might discourage witnesses from testifying. At the moment, it looks like their effort has been successful. The SFist quoted a motion by William Tam, one of the defendants, who said that he feared for the safety of himself and his family were the trial to be broadcast. "The first reason is because I am fearful for my personal safety and the safety of my family," Tam wrote in the motion. "In the past I have received threats on my life, had my property vandalized and am recognized on the streets due to my association with Proposition 8. Now that the subject lawsuit is going to trial, I fear that I will get more publicity, be more recognizable and that the risk of harm to me and my family will increase." The order to block the cameras from the court room came just hours before the trial was set to begin. Discuss

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Supreme Court Blocks YouTube Broadcast of Same-Sex Marriage Trial

Just as many of us are getting used to augmented reality applications for cellphones and digital cameras, Babak Amir Parviz and his University of Washington students are taking it one step further. The group is working on a human machine interface where LEDs are embedded into contact lenses in order to display information to the wearer. You heard right, in a few years your cyborg eye will talk to you. In an article with the IEEE Spectrum , Parviz relays the challenges of custom-building semi-transparent circuitry into a polymer lens roughly 1.2 millimeters in diameter. Sponsor Editor's note: This story is part of a series we call Redux, where we'll re-publish some of our best posts of 2009. As we look back at the year - and ahead to what next year holds - we think these are the stories that deserve a second glance. It's not just a best-of list, it's also a collection of posts that examine the fundamental issues that continue to shape the Web. We hope you enjoy reading them again and we look forward to bringing you more Web products and trends analysis in 2010. Happy holidays from Team ReadWriteWeb! Says Parviz, "We're starting with a simple product, a contact lens with a single light source, and we aim to work up to more sophisticated lenses that can superimpose computer-generated high-resolution color graphics on a user's real field of vision." For now, Parviz mentions that single pixel visual cues for gamers and the hearing impaired are already quite possible with the lens prototypes. The group has also experimented with non-invasive biomonitoring including checking glucose levels for diabetics. Some of the obvious challenges of building an augmented reality contact lens include: 1. The Need for Custom Parts: Regular circuitry and LEDs are incompatible with regular contact lenses. Every piece of this project must be fabricated from scratch. 2. Physical Constraints: The group must attempt to fit transistors, radio chips, antennas, diffusion resistors, LEDs and photodetectors onto a minuscule polymer disc. Additionally, the team is required to control lens position and light intensity relative to the pupil. And finally, because the lens is so close to the corneal surface, the group must project images away from the cornea using either micro-lenses or lasers. 3. User Safety: In addition to protecting the eye against chemicals, heat and toxins, the lens components must be semi-transparent in order for the wearer to view their surroundings. "We already see a future in which the humble contact lens becomes a real platform, like the iPhone is today, with lots of developers contributing their ideas and inventions. As far as we're concerned, the possibilities extend as far as the eye can see." And you thought the iPhone SDK was a tough nut to crack. For Parviz's complete seven-page article, check out the IEEE Spectrum's Biomedical page. Discuss

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Your Cyborg Eye Will Talk to You

Microsoft researcher Danah Boyd took a decidedly different approach when considering social networking at today's LeWeb conference. In speaking to a room packed with more than a thousand entrepreneurs, investors and journalists, Boyd explained how we tend to focus on the positive aspects of social networking services. Technologists tend to praise web publishing for its ability to encourage artistic expression and public dialogue. In contrast, Boyd makes the point that negative and disturbing web content can also serve as a vehicle for change. Sponsor Boyd explains how those who monitor online profile information, tend to have something to gain from it in a negative way. For example, oppressive governments often monitor the web for signs of criminal activity in order to enforce laws or suppress certain activities. Nevertheless, Boyd believes the visibility of violence, drug use and criminal activity can also be used by regular netizens for constructive purposes. She references "eyes on the street" - a concept coined by urban sociologist Jane Jacobs in her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities . Writes Jacobs: "There must be eyes on the street, eyes belonging to those we might call the natural proprietors of the street. The buildings on a street equipped to handle strangers and to insure the safety of both residents and strangers, must be oriented to the street.  They cannot turn their backs or blank sides on it and leave it blind.  The sidewalk must have users on it fairly continuously, both to add to the number of effective eyes on the street and to induce a sufficient number of people in buildings along the street to watch the sidewalks." Boyd believes this same concept can be applied to online safety and health. Says explains, "The web makes available all parts of society and it's up to us to find a way to make it constructive." With Facebook's user base often cited as being bigger than the population of all but 4 countries in the world, netizens have the visibility to do more than simply consume content. Boyd's presentation reveals that while the internet has the power to uncover the abuses and oppressions that are happening around us, ultimately it's up to us to decide whether or not to acknowledge and help remedy them. Photo Credit: Ewan McIntosh * For more updates on LeWeb, follow along on the Social Media Club House Discuss

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Says Danah Boyd, Leverage the Web's Most Disturbing Content