October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month and Google is announcing a slew of new features related to the sign-in process and account usage. New Google Account security protections include requiring JavaScript to be enabled when logging in and removing harmful apps during Security Checkup with Play Protect.
On the Account login page, Google runs a risk assessment that only allows the "sign-in if nothing looks suspicious." This analysis to protect against phishing requires that JavaScript be enabled, with Google noting that only .1% of users have it disabled. If that is the case, you will be prompted to enable it before signing in.
Chances are, JavaScript is already enabled in your browser; it helps power lots of the websites people use everyday. But, because it may save bandwidth or help pages load more quickly, a tiny minority of our users (0.1%) choose to keep it off. This might make sense if you are reading static content, but we recommend that you keep Javascript on while signing into your Google Account so we can better protect you
Once users are signed in, the Security Checkup feature now takes into account nefarious applications installed on Android devices, with Google Play Protect leveraged. You might be prompted to uninstall any harmful apps found on your phone, while Google recently beginning to recommend that users removed unused, but logged in devices.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday November 01 2018, @05:36PM (2 children)
Well, certainly. But then, having a gmail account doesn't necessarily mean that your real life mail goes through their servers.
I do have a Google account, and I do use gmail. But, I have other accounts, elsewhere, including mail accounts - not all of which are located in the US of A.
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Thursday November 01 2018, @06:08PM
Though I bet every email someone sends to you from gmail is analyzed against your google account. I am sure they have the ability to link those together with no action on your part.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 3, Touché) by c0lo on Thursday November 01 2018, @10:24PM
How unpatriotic - now NSA needs to spend extra on the account of those mail accounts.
Best if you open those mail accounts directly on NSA servers; can't find the relevant link for now, but maybe you can google for it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford