Security

Google Adds Safety Feature to Android Gmail App After E-Mail Phishing Attack

• By Sri Ravipati
• 05/04/17

A word of warning: If there is an e-mail in your inbox asking you to open a Google Doc from someone, don’t open it. Most Google users are by now aware of the phishing e-mail scam that took place Wednesday, which many security experts called “sophisticated,” various news sources reported. A day after the attack, Google has rolled out a new safeguard to its Android Gmail app.  

The phishing scam attempted to hack a user’s Google account after the user clicks a link that appears to be from a trusted individual. Google was able to stop the attack after about 1 million (just 0.1 percent) of all Gmail users had seen one of the e-mails.

Now with the Gmail app updates, when a phony link appears in an e-mail, Google will warn the user, with an alert: “The site you are trying to visit has been identified as a forgery intended to trick you into disclosing financial, personal or other sensitive information.”

The company recommends that Google users affected by the attack change their passwords and report the incident.

To learn more, visit the G Suite blog post announcement.