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Google Accounts get security boost with new critical alerts system

Another feature allows you to use Google Assistant without interactions being linked to your account.

Steven Musil Night Editor / News
Steven Musil is the night news editor at CNET News. He's been hooked on tech since learning BASIC in the late '70s. When not cleaning up after his daughter and son, Steven can be found pedaling around the San Francisco Bay Area. Before joining CNET in 2000, Steven spent 10 years at various Bay Area newspapers.
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Steven Musil
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Google is beefing up security on its products.

Omar Marques/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Google on Wednesday unveiled a pair of online products designed to better protect the security and privacy of Google users' information.

The company said it will soon introduce a redesigned critical alert to warn Google Account users when a serious security threat is detected, such as a suspected hack. Unlike alerts that arrive in your email or on your phone, the new alert will automatically be displayed in the Google app you're using.

How Google's new critical alerts will look.

Google

To provide an additional layer of reassurance, Google says the new alert is spoof-proof, so you don't have to worry about whether the alert is legitimate.

Google is also rolling out a new feature for Google Assistant called Guest mode that will allow you to use the voice-activated AI without your interactions being saved to your Google account. A simple voice command turns the feature on and off.

Rahul Roy-Chowdhury, vice president of product and privacy at Google, pointed out that October is National Cybersecurity Awareness month, reminding us of the importance of online safety and pointing out that automatic protections are built into every Google product.

"Safe Browsing protects more than 4 billion devices, Gmail blocks more than 100 million phishing attempts every day, and Google Play Protect scans over 50 billion apps every day for malware and other issues," he said in a blog post Wednesday.

Google also announced it's launching a refreshed Safety Center, which includes information about how to stay safe and secure on the internet.

Both additions are expected to being rolling out in the coming weeks. 

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