Google is finally working on a fix for a bug in its search engine that allowed search results to be spoofed. The bug was first reported by Wietze Beukema in 2017. The UK-based security expert recently published a detailed post outlining the specific bug, which relies on the ability to share “knowledge graphs” that appear alongside some search results .
The Google Knowledge Graph is a snippet that appears in search results, where the company displays quick information about the search a user is doing. The Knowledge Graph usually appears on the right side of search results.
By clicking the share button in the snippet, a short URL can be obtained, which contains a unique knowledge graph ID. This &kgmid could be added to the web address of a search query, to display a Knowledge Graph in any search result.
For example, someone could add Kim Jong-Un's photo under the search query "Who is the president of the United States?"
The repair takes a long time
After Beukema reported the issue, the story spread through the news and it appears to have been spotted by Google. The security expert tweeted that Google is “working on a fix” after spotting the bug story on TechCrunch. However, the company did not give any timeline for when the fix would be implemented, and this is not the first time it has been informed of the issue. When Beukema first reported the bug in 2017, it appears that the case was closed and dismissed because it was not considered a serious enough problem. So there is no guarantee that a fix will come soon.
The severity of the problem
At first glance, the potential issues that could arise while the bug is still in place seem relatively benign compared to similar bugs, such as the one used to steal $50 million in cryptocurrency early last year. As Beukema notes, that’s not certain. With concerns growing about fake news and the ease with which this bug can be exploited, legitimate search results could be tampered with and shared in order to spread conspiracy theories and mislead those exposed to the information. However, this threat of tampered results could ultimately be more damaging to Google itself. The company has largely built its reputation on the reliability of its searches. The problem could ultimately cause public trust in the company to decline.
