Google Warns You When The Government Is Spying On You

Google just launched a program that warns, us, the users about the “state-sponsored attacks.” Therefore, each time a user is trying to access an account that is under the thread of a state-sponsored or phishing attack a message will appear saying “We believe state-sponsored attackers may be attempting to compromise your account or computer” or “Warning: Phishing (web forgery) suspected.”

The new warning system introduced by Google is capable of detecting certain types of government-tied attacks, displaying a notification banner that contains a link that will redirect you to a webpage where you will be taught how to improve the security of your personal data.

The security guide will suggest you to change your password with a stronger one, install all the security update packages for the operating system you are using or to avoid opening suspicious files that are included as mail attachments. The list of high-risks file types includes Microsoft Office documents, PDF files, and RAR archives containing .EXE files.

Google also suggests a two-step authentication method, which is based on a throwaway password that you will receive via SMS, on your cell phone. Basically in order to compromise this type of authentication the attacker will have to hijack the SMS sent to the victim’s phone – which is a lot more complicated than a simple attack in the online environment.

A recent report by Reporters Without Borders confirms Google’s fears, signaling more such government-sponsored attacks, like the case of some Belarusian users who wore redirected by the IPS provider to malware-infected websites each time they tried to access a social network’s webpage.

Phishing attacks were also reported in Siria and Iran, where the hackers attempted to steal social network username and passwords.