Google cuts grace period for vendors of vulnerable software

Google is shortening the amount of time it gives to makers of vulnerable software and web services if there is imminent danger. The Google security team say that if they encounter a zero-day issue that is already being actively used for cyber attacks, it will grant the affected manufacturer just seven days grace to fix the vulnerabilities or publish an advisory with mitigation strategies for users.

After seven days, Google wants to publish details of the vulnerability in such a way that users of the vulnerable software can protect themselves from attacks. Previously, the company had given vendors sixty days before it went public with details of vulnerabilities. Google says, though, that it has found zero-day vulnerabilities being used to target a limited subset of people and this targeting makes the attack more serious than a widespread attack and more important to resolve quickly, especially where political activists are being compromised and the attacks can have "real safety implications" in some parts of the world.

Google admits the seven day period is an "aggressive time frame" but that it offers sufficient time for a vendor to either publish advice on how to, for example, temporarily disable a service, restrict access or offer contact information to provide more direct assistance. "Each day an actively exploited vulnerability remains undisclosed to the public and unpatched, more computers will be compromised" says Google saying it also plans to hold itself to the same standard and hopefully improve the coordination of both web security and vulnerability management.

(djwm)