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Google is reportedly sending a new batch of warning emails to users, informing them that government-backed attackers might be trying to steal their passwords and providing a few extra steps to secure accounts.
Google first introduced the practice of warning users about government-backed attacks in 2012, but these days the number of emails has grown significantly, and many link this with the cyberattacks that are believed to be launched by Russia.
While there is no confirmation in this regard, with Russian hackers believed to be trying to break into Google accounts, the Mountain View-based search giant says that only some 0.1 percent of the users are actually getting these warnings, but it’s still critical for everyone to be as secure as possible.
“We send these warnings out of an abundance of caution - they do not indicate that a user's account has already been compromised or that a more widespread attack is occurring when they receive the notice,” the spokesperson said. “Anyone that receives one should follow the instructions in the warning, and we further recommend that all users routinely do a Google Account Security Checkup,” Google said.
High-profile targets
Many of those who received the warning emails are journalists or high-profile professors, such as economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, Jonathan Chait, journalist at New York magazine, and Politico's Julia Ioffe. All took to Twitter to confirm the notice.
“There’s a chance this is a false alarm, but we believe we detected government-backed attackers trying to steal your password. We can’t reveal what tipped us off because the attackers will take notice and change their tactics, but if they are successful at some point they could access your data or take other actions using your account,” the email reads.
Of course, if you received this email, the best thing you can do is change your password and enable other security features, such as two-factor authentication, just to make sure no hacking attempt is successful.