In a recent report, Gmail users can now be protected from phishing attacks on their Android phones thanks to a new update from Google. The company is now rolling out a new security feature similar to that found in the web version of Gmail which gives a warning to people when an email contains a suspicious link.
In this week's attack, for example, if users have received an email from a known contact who said they were just sharing a document with you and when you clicked to open the file, users would be taken to an innocent-looking web page hosted by Google. The page wouldn't even prompt you for your password, instead, have already listed all your Google accounts that are ready to be clicked. The new phishing protection in the Gmail app for Android depends on Google's Safe Browsing technology.
Users would be even asked to give an app named "Google Docs" account permissions, however, it isn't the real Google Docs. And once it has the access, the worm started spreading to everyone in your contacts list. As of now, the update is only rolling out to Android users, and Google has not announced yet whether it will make its way to iOS in due course or not. Moreover, the update comes just shortly after a phishing scam appeared in which recipients were advised to click on a link to open files implying to be stored on Google Docs.
Furthermore, Google reported on Wednesday that it had taken action against the phishing attack that had affected Gmail and Google Docs users. More so, Google disabled the offending accounts as well as removed the fake pages, and pushed updates through Safe Browsing and its abuse team. The company also urged all users to report any suspicious phishing emails in Gmail. The new mobile feature is rolling out this week to Gmail users on Android.
