The SEO world is on edge today with news of a serious security within the widely used Google Webmaster Tools (GWT) suite.
A number of credible industry sources are confirming that former account users who were previously blocked or deleted from GWT accounts have been, once again, granted access. You don’t need to be network security expert to understand the chilling ramifications of this security breach.
Understanding the scale of the problem is nearly impossible at this point because not every account has been impacted. Regardless, it’s probably not a bad idea to check through those permissions and see if anything is amiss.
There’s also talk that Google Analytics has been breached as well, but that’s not yet been confirmed.
SEO guru David Naylor was one of the first bloggers to break the story and his take on the story is a worthy read. He points out that this gaping hole not only opens sensitive SEO information like disavowed and redirected links, it exposes webmasters to a world of potential mischief.
So far Google has not issued any official statements on the matter through official channels, such as Matt Cutts’ Twitter account.This has led to speculation that Google really has no handle on the problem or its possible solutions.
Have you noticed this bug on your GWT account? Share your experiences in the comments section below.