Remember the cyber attack on Google? Well, it now appears that the Internet intruders who successfully penetrated Google's network have made off with the source code for the closely-guarded password system developed by the search giant--which enables the single login experience for its services. Code-named "Gaia," the program was only ever described once at a technical conference years ago.

The revelation came via a person with direct knowledge of the investigation, and was reported by the New York Times. While no passwords seem to have been stolen, there is a possibility that the hackers might independently find weaknesses by examining the source code and move on to exploit them. And even if exploitable vulnerabilities could not be found, having the hackers know how Gaia--now known as Single Sign-On--works internally is hardly a palatable thought as a Gmail user.

If this report is true, I suppose it explains why Google says that it is now 'paranoid' about security. Let's hope that the new security measures will be adequate this time round.

For more on this story:
- check out this article at the New York Times 

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