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Use iPhone as Physical Security Key to Protect Your Google Accounts

Use iPhone as Physical Security Key to Protect Your Google Accounts

Jan 16, 2020
Great news for iOS users! You can now use your iPhone or iPad, running iOS 10 or later, as a physical security key for securely logging into your Google account as part of the Advanced Protection Program for two-factor authentication. Android users have had this feature on their smartphones since last year, but now Apple product owners can also use this advanced, phishing-resistant form of authentication as an alternative to a physical security key. Adding extra security later of two-step authentication is one of the more essential steps you can take to secure your online accounts, which makes it harder for attackers to log in to your account, especially when they steal your password. "According to a study we [Google] released last year, people who exclusively used security keys to sign into their accounts never fell victim to targeted phishing attacks," said Shuvo Chatterjee, Product Manager at Google's Advanced Protection Program. Google recently update
Enable Google's New "Advanced Protection" If You Don't Want to Get Hacked

Enable Google's New "Advanced Protection" If You Don't Want to Get Hacked

Oct 18, 2017
It is good to be paranoid when it comes to cybersecurity. Google already provides various advanced features such as login alerts and two-factor authentication to keep your Google account secure. However, if you are extra paranoid, Google has just introduced its strongest ever security feature, called " Advanced Protection ," which makes it easier for users, who are usually at high risk of targeted online attacks, to lock down their Google accounts like never before. "We took this unusual step because there is an overlooked minority of our users that are at particularly high risk of targeted online attacks," the company said in a blog post announcing the program on Tuesday.  "For example, these might be campaign staffers preparing for an upcoming election, journalists who need to protect the confidentiality of their sources, or people in abusive relationships seeking safety." Even if a hacker somehow gets your password—using advanced phishing a
How to Find and Fix Risky Sharing in Google Drive

How to Find and Fix Risky Sharing in Google Drive

Mar 06, 2024Data Security / Cloud Security
Every Google Workspace administrator knows how quickly Google Drive becomes a messy sprawl of loosely shared confidential information. This isn't anyone's fault; it's inevitable as your productivity suite is purposefully designed to enable real-time collaboration – both internally and externally.  For Security & Risk Management teams, the untenable risk of any Google Drive footprint lies in the toxic combinations of sensitive data, excessive permissions, and improper sharing. However, it can be challenging to differentiate between typical business practices and potential risks without fully understanding the context and intent.  Material Security, a company renowned for its innovative method of protecting sensitive data within employee mailboxes, has recently launched  Data Protection for Google Drive  to safeguard the sprawl of confidential information scattered throughout Google Drive with a powerful discovery and remediation toolkit. How Material Security helps organ
Over 1 Million Google Accounts Hacked by 'Gooligan' Android Malware

Over 1 Million Google Accounts Hacked by 'Gooligan' Android Malware

Nov 30, 2016
If you own an Android smartphone, Beware! A new Android malware that has already breached more than 1 Million Google accounts is infecting around 13,000 devices every day. Dubbed Gooligan , the malware roots vulnerable Android devices to steal email addresses and authentication tokens stored on them. With this information in hands, the attackers are able to hijack your Google account and access your sensitive information from Google apps including Gmail, Google Photos, Google Docs, Google Play, Google Drive, and G Suite. Researchers found traces of Gooligan code in dozens of legitimate-looking Android apps on 3rd-party app stores, which if downloaded and installed by an Android user, malware starts sending your device's information and stolen data to its Command and Control (C&C) server. "Gooligan then downloads a rootkit from the C&C server that takes advantage of multiple Android 4 and 5 exploits including the well-known VROOT (CVE-2013-6282) and Towelroot (CV
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Uncover Critical Gaps in 7 Core Areas of Your Cybersecurity Program

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Turn potential vulnerabilities into strengths. Start evaluating your defenses today. Download the Checklist.
Spy Agencies Hijack Google Play Store to Install Spyware on Smartphones

Spy Agencies Hijack Google Play Store to Install Spyware on Smartphones

May 21, 2015
I have an Android phone with a five different gmail accounts configured in it. But what if any one of them get compromised via phishing, malware or any other way? The Hacker would be able to access my Google account and obviously Google Play Store account too, which allows anyone to install any Android application remotely into my phone without my knowledge and confirmation… What if someone compromises large number of Google accounts and trigger mass installation of a spying or malware app remotely with just one click???? Yes, this was exactly what the National Security Agency (NSA) had done under its widely spread Global surveillance program. A new top-secret document obtained from the former NSA contractor Edward Snowden revealed that the NSA and its closest allies planned to hijack Google and Samsung app stores to infect smartphones with spyware. The operation was launched by the Network Tradecraft Advancement Team, including spy agents from each of the coun
Password Alert Chrome Extension to Protect your Google Account from Phishers

Password Alert Chrome Extension to Protect your Google Account from Phishers

Apr 30, 2015
As cybercriminals have started using sophisticated phishing techniques in an attempt to hijack online users' account, Google on Wednesday launched a new Chrome Extension to fight against Phishing . The search engine giant has launched a new Password Alert Chrome extension that will alert you whenever you accidentally enter your Google password on a carefully crafted phishing website that aimed at hijacking your account. So, GO and INSTALL the freely available, open-source Password Alert extension which is now available in the Chrome Web Store. Password Alert extension does two things: Prevents you from re-using your Google account password on other websites. Protects you if you've typed the same Google password on a non-Google website by generating a warning that you have just been phished and should immediately change your password. According to the company , nearly two percent of the e-mail messages to Google's Gmail are phishing emails from cyber
Complete Google Security Checkup, Get 2GB Extra Google Drive Space

Complete Google Security Checkup, Get 2GB Extra Google Drive Space

Feb 11, 2015
Google has found an excellent idea to celebrate Safer Internet Day . The search engine giant is offering a nice perk for its users who complete a quick Security Checkup by February 17th. No doubt, its willing to bribe us, , but you probably should review your security settings anyway, and I loved the idea. Now, what's the perk?? Google is providing you 2GB of extra space in your Google Drive account and there's an easy way to fetch the offer. You just have to check your account security, and for that, simply follow the steps given below: In the next week, head to Google's security checkup page Then, follow some simple instructions given on the page Under the Security Checkup process, a user will go through simple confirmations, like: Your backup email address Ensures your account recovery information is current Lets you review recent sign-in activity Confirms the list of apps that access your account information. The process will hardly take 5 minutes or so t
Google Apps Flaw Allowed Hacker to Hijack Account and Disable Two-factor Authentication

Google Apps Flaw Allowed Hacker to Hijack Account and Disable Two-factor Authentication

Jan 23, 2015
A critical cross-site scripting ( XSS ) vulnerability in the Google Apps administrator console allowed cyber criminals to force a Google Apps admins to execute just about any request on the https://admin.google.com/ domain. The Google Apps admin console allows administrators to manage their organization's account. Administrators can use the console to add new users, configure permissions, manage security settings and enable Google services for your domain. The feature is primarily used by many businesses, especially those using Gmail as the e-mail service for their domain. The XSS flaw allowed attackers to force the admin to do the following actions: Creating new users with "super admin" rights Disabling two-factor authentication ( 2FA ) and other security measures from existing accounts or from multiple domains Modifying domain settings so that all incoming e-mails are redirected to addresses controlled by the attacker Hijack an account/email by resett
Google Releases Chrome Extension for End-To-End Email Encryption

Google Releases Chrome Extension for End-To-End Email Encryption

Dec 18, 2014
Back in june this year, Google announced an alpha Google Chrome extension called " End-to-End " for sending and receiving emails securely, in wake of former NSA contractor Edward Snowden's revelations about the global surveillance conducted by the government law-enforcements. Finally, the company has announced that it made the source code for its End-to-End Chrome extension open source via GitHub . Google is developing a user-friendly tool for individuals to implement the tough encryption standard known as Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) in an attempt to fully encrypt people's Gmail messages that can't even be read by Google itself, nor anyone else other than the users exchanging the emails. PGP is an open source end-to-end encryption standard for almost 20 years, used to encrypt e-mail over the Internet providing cryptographic privacy and authentication for data communication, which makes it very difficult to break. But implementing PGP is too complicated for m
Gmail App for iOS leaves Users vulnerable to Man-in-the-Middle Attacks

Gmail App for iOS leaves Users vulnerable to Man-in-the-Middle Attacks

Jul 12, 2014
Google has failed to provide a very important security measure in its Gmail application for iOS that left millions of its Apple device users to Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attacks capable of monitoring encrypted email communications. Researcher at mobile security firm Lacoon has discovered that Google's Gmail iOS application, run on Macintosh mobile devices, does not perform what's known as "certificate pinning" when establishing a trusted connection between the mobile applications and back-end web services, which means an attacker can view plaintext emails and steal credentials in MitM attack. WHAT IS CERTIFICATE PINNING Certificate Pinning is a process designed to prevent user of the application from being a victim of an attack made by spoofing the SSL certificate . Certificate pinning automatically rejects the whole connection from sites that offer bogus SSL certificates and allow only SSL connections to hosts signed with certificates stored inside the application, whic
Google Drive Vulnerability Leaks Users' Private Data

Google Drive Vulnerability Leaks Users' Private Data

Jul 10, 2014
Another privacy issue has been discovered in Google Drive which could have led sensitive and personal information stored on the cloud service exposed to unauthorized parties. The security flaw has now patched by Google, but its discovery indicates that the vulnerability of cloud data when accessed via a link can allow " anyone who has the link " to access your private data without any further authentication. HOW THE SECURITY FLAW WORKS The security hole addressed a risk to files that included a clickable URL on your cloud file sharing service. When someone opens the file and clicks on an embedded hyperlink, then they get sent to the website of a third-party website owner. Upon accessing this URL, unfortunately the external Internet user - an unauthorized party - could potentially access your sensitive information by accessing the original documents that included the URL. GOOGLE EXPLANATION Google explained the actual nature of the security flaw in a blog p
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