Google adds bolder warnings to lessen risk of unverified apps
The tech giant introduces more security protections in the wake of the Google Docs phishing scam in May.
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Google is rolling out new security protections to reduce the risk from unverified apps.
If you're about to use a new web app that has yet to be verified, Google is now using even stronger language to make you think twice.
The new "unverified app" screen
The tech giant said Tuesday it's rolling out more security protections to lessen the risk of new apps that are still pending verification. Those protections include an "unverified app" screen, which replaces the "error" screen that developers and users had seen previously. A permissions consent screen comes next, warning users about the unverified app and then requiring people to take additional steps if they want to continue anyway.
"This will help reduce the risk of user data being phished by bad actors," Google's Naveen Agarwal and Wesley Chun said in the blog post.
The company said it will expand the new warnings and verification process to existing apps in the coming months.
These new security measures come in the wake of a phishing scam in May that targeted Google Docs users and spread across Gmail. The tech giant shut down the attack quickly but it's estimated it affected at least 1 million Gmail users.