According to TheRegister.com, Google Cloud has suspended SSLMate’s account three times since May 2024, with the latest suspension occurring just last Friday. Founder Andrew Ayer detailed how his company, which manages SSL certificates, uses Google Cloud primarily for customer integrations that require accessing Cloud DNS and Cloud Domains. The first suspension in May blocked his login while demanding information only accessible through login, creating a catch-22 situation. Despite partial restoration, Google restricted the account again for different reasons, never explaining the suspensions or sending notification emails. After a third suspension in late October and another last week, Ayer received an automated email completely suspending SSLMate’s access before social media pressure restored services.
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<h2 id="the-real-problem“>The Real Problem Nobody’s Talking About
Here’s the thing that makes this situation so concerning: Ayer was following Google‘s own documentation. He built his integration system based on Google’s recommended approach for using cloud APIs securely. His system eliminated long-lived credentials and confused deputy vulnerabilities – basically, he was doing everything right from a security perspective. And yet Google’s automated systems kept flagging his legitimate business operations as policy violations.
What’s even weirder? During these suspensions, one customer’s integration kept working perfectly despite using the same suspended project. That inconsistency suggests Google’s enforcement systems are fundamentally broken. They’re either overly aggressive or just plain random. When you’re running a business that depends on reliable infrastructure, that kind of unpredictability is completely unacceptable.
This Isn’t Just About One Company
Look, this story matters because it highlights a growing pattern with cloud providers. We’re seeing more businesses get caught in automated enforcement systems with no human oversight and no clear path to resolution. Ayer’s experience shows that even when you follow the rules perfectly, you’re still vulnerable to arbitrary account termination.
And here’s what really frustrates me about this situation: Google should be encouraging the exact kind of secure architecture that Ayer implemented. Instead, they’re punishing it. His detailed blog post explains how he’s now forced to consider OpenID Connect as an alternative, but even that comes with unnecessary complexity. Basically, Google is making it harder to do security right.
Where This Is Headed
I think we’re going to see more businesses reconsider their cloud dependencies. When a founder like Ayer says “I cannot rely on having a Google account for production use cases,” that’s a massive red flag for the entire cloud industry. Companies are realizing that putting all their infrastructure eggs in one cloud basket creates single points of failure that they can’t control.
We’re probably heading toward more multi-cloud strategies and hybrid approaches. Businesses will keep using cloud providers for what they’re good at, but they’ll diversify to avoid these kinds of catastrophic service interruptions. The era of blindly trusting any single cloud provider is ending. And honestly, it’s about time.
So what’s the takeaway? If you’re building anything serious on any cloud platform, you need contingency plans. Because as Ayer discovered, even when you do everything by the book, you’re still at the mercy of automated systems that don’t understand your business.
