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With their confidential, corporate and personal documents hacked (by "Hacker Croll"), then exposed (by TechCrunch) yesterday, Twitter had quite a dilemma on their hands.
While the story itself has come and gone , what intrigued me was that founder Biz was so open as to how they house internal documents: Google Apps.
In fact, he was pretty forthcoming that Twitter uses Google Docs, Calendars, and other Google Apps Twitter for "sharing notes, spreadsheets, ideas, financial details and more" at the social media sweetheart.
Yes, the same company that is wildly speculated about daily regarding their partners, strategies and revenue model puts all of their sensitive documents in the cloud. Not only that, but Biz goes out of his way to defend web-based applications like Google Apps:
This isn't about any flaw in web apps, it speaks to the importance of following good personal security guidelines such as choosing strong passwords.
Peter Kafka analogizes the situation on his MediaMemo blog as "akin to having your underwear drawer rifled: Embarrassing, but no one’s really going to be surprised about what’s in there."
Still, the situation begs a few questions:
1. Should we stop using the cloud to house and share sensitive documents?
2. Was it a surprise that a progressive company like Twitter uses Google Docs to share documents internally?
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Twitter, Even More Open Than We Wanted - Twitter Blog
In Our Inbox: Hundreds Of Confidential Twitter Documents - TechCrunch
The Twitterhack Is Cloud Computing’s Wake-Up Call: Time for Security That Works - MediaMemo
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