Google To Boost Security For Gmail After Discovery Of Government Backed Hackers

Google announced that it will boost the current security for Gmail to prevent against possible attacks by government-backed hackers.

The tech giant will implement a new security system that would send alerts to the account holder if something goes wrong.

Google claims that government-backed hackers may have targeted more than one million accounts. For some time now, the company has come across many situations where agencies have used hackers to spy on accounts to ensure that there are no suspicious messages sent back and forth.

The company also alerts account holders whose accounts may have been compromised and urges them to instant precautionary actions.

The company did not unveil the exact number of accounts that may have been exposed however, in a blog it mentions: Since 2012, we’ve warned Gmail users when we suspect they’ve been targeted by state-sponsored attackers. The users that receive these warnings are often activists, journalists, and policy-makers taking bold stands around the world.
When the company detects a hack, there is a visible pink label/tab. If the account displays it, the account owner is advised through the next steps to ensure security and privacy for the account. Now it plans to introduce another step which shall provide a full-page of instructions and warnings so that the matter is more visible to owners of affected accounts.


The tech giant has been taking many steps to boost security for Gmail and other applications so that users get strong encryption to prevent their information from malicious attacks.

The blog also shed more light on measures Google takes to ensure everyone is safe. In addition, if messages contain harmful links, users will see a warning before they can move forward with the command.
This is to make sure that they understand the possible risks that lie beyond the URL; as it could be a possible scam.

The company also claims that in-bound emails that have been sent through encrypted channels have increased by 25%, with strong encryption on emails that are up to 44 days old.

To tackle this problem on a bigger platform, Google will work with companies such as Microsoft and Yahoo. Recently on Safe Internet Day, the company offered users 2 GB of free storage space on Drive as a reward for conducting a two-minute security checkup.

The company is also working on new tools, while improving older ones so that it can pitch to provide a smooth user experience with lots of safety.
The blog concludes by adding that it will continue to do whatever it can to protect users.