I’d like to take a moment to respond to the article in today’s Daily Athenaeum. There are some items that need clarification and I want to make sure everyone understands why the installer for Google Chrome wouldn’t work on University-run Internet connections. I’ll include text from the DA article when I reference it specifically.
Some of the items in the article were a little misleading regarding our support of the beta release of Google’s Chrome browser. It is important to remember that Chrome is a beta release- meaning Google is still developing it and it’s up to early adopters to provide real-world testing.
Betas, as a general rule, are not supported by OIT. There are too many unknowns- like the possibility of security issues and bugs. If it was a final production version (a gold release), and was compatible with the security measures and web-based applications used by the University, OIT would support its use.
The first paragraph in the article states:
West Virginia University’s Office of Information Technology is blocking the download of Google’s new Web browser, Chrome.
OIT is blocking Google Desktop, not Chrome. OIT has blocked Google Desktop since 2006 because it is a security risk. Unfortunately, Google hosts the Chrome download in the the same location as Google Desktop. Since you can’t download Chome without using the same installer as Google Desktop, it is, by default, blocked.
The most notable security feature found has to do with the automatic download feature that comes default on the browser, which downloads any files a Web page attempts to give a user’s computer without prompting.
Actually, a “security feature” would hopefully stop “automatic” downloads of files without prompting…so I am not sure what that sentence means. If, however, Chrome downloads all files without prompting, this would be a huge security “flaw” not a “feature.”
OIT could not confirm which security flaw was disallowing it from the WVU network, which allows Mozilla’s Firefox, a similar browser, on its network.
Actually we can confirm that there is no known security flaw inherent to Chrome preventing it from being used on campus. We are not “disallowing” Chrome from our network. We’re blocking the download application for the browser. This is due entirely to the fact that it is part of the Google Desktop install package.
Users who install Chrome at home (or on any other network for that matter), can certainly use it while on our network. Comparing it to Mozilla’s Firefox is an inaccurate comparison. Yes they are similar due to the fact that they are both browsers – but so are Internet Explorer, Safari and Opera. So of course we allow Firefox – just as we allow the other browsers (including Chrome provided the installation of it is not downloaded while on our network).
I do want to emphasize that due to the deadline constraints for this article in the DA we were not able to provide a detailed answer in time for the deadline.
I am pleased, however, that we do have this blog now in which to discuss this kind of thing. We welcome your comments and look forward to discussing this and other issues with you.
P.S. – The assistant director of Network Operations is Steve Belcher not Steve Belch.
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thats really good google chrome is so new and need education institutes help so the development work goes on i noticed someone released google chrome skins the very next day people need to make plugins and extensions to make it popular like firefox. but tell you the truth i always want to stick with firefox i am with it from years and think i’ll never leave it maybe its my love for it.
“The most notable security feature found has to do with the automatic download feature that comes default on the browser, which downloads any files a Web page attempts to give a user’s computer without prompting.”
This feature is called prefetch. Firefox also does this. In firefox you can disable it in about:config, just search for prefetch.
Thanks for the clarification re: prefetch Justin. 
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I am a big fan of this post. Great job setting them straight.