Nao Tanaka of Kyocera takes a break to send a text with a mobile device at the Google I/O conference in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Wednesday, May 11, 2011. Google Inc., the world's largest Internet-search company, is making a bigger push into entertainment services, adding music storage and movie-rental features to its Android software for phones and tablets. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg *** Local Caption *** Nao Tanaka
Google is preparing to upgrade its security tools for online accounts. David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Google plans extra security layer to protect against cyberattacks



Google is preparing to upgrade its security tools for online accounts to better insulate users from cyberattacks and politically motivated hacks, according to two people familiar with the company’s plan.

The Alphabet Inc. company next month will begin offering a service called the Advanced Protection Program that places a collection of features onto accounts such as email, including a new block on third-party applications from accessing data. The program would effectively replace the need to use two-factor authentication to protect accounts with a pair of physical security keys. The company plans to market the product to corporate executives, politicians and others with heightened security concerns, these people said.

The Gmail messages of John Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign chairman, were famously hacked last year, along with the databases of the Democratic National Committee. Podesta met with the House Intelligence Committee in June to discuss the hack.

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Google released software in 2014 for a USB Security Key, a device designed to improve existing security measures, like two-factor authentication. Two-factor authentication involves using a second code or password, for example, to log onto email.

When plugged into computers, the key lets users create more robust security measures for accounts on Gmail and other Google sites. The new service will continue to require a physical USB key in addition to a second physical key for greater protection.

The new service will block all third-party programs from accessing a user’s emails or files stored on Google Drive, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the product isn’t yet public. The program will be updated with new features to protect user data on an on-going basis.

A Google spokesman declined to comment.

Over the past year, Google has refurbished its account security systems several times. The upgrades come as the company pitches its Gmail and document apps to business clients. In February, Google added additional controls against phishing attacks for enterprise clients. Since 2012, Google has sent warnings to users when they are potentially targets of state-sponsored attacks. The company wrote a blog post on the topic earlier this year after a number of reporters received the warning.

COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Haltia.ai
Started: 2023
Co-founders: Arto Bendiken and Talal Thabet
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: AI
Number of employees: 41
Funding: About $1.7 million
Investors: Self, family and friends

COMPANY PROFILE

Name: SmartCrowd
Started: 2018
Founder: Siddiq Farid and Musfique Ahmed
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech / PropTech
Initial investment: $650,000
Current number of staff: 35
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Various institutional investors and notable angel investors (500 MENA, Shurooq, Mada, Seedstar, Tricap)

Kill

Director: Nikhil Nagesh Bhat

Starring: Lakshya, Tanya Maniktala, Ashish Vidyarthi, Harsh Chhaya, Raghav Juyal

Rating: 4.5/5

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The Word for Woman is Wilderness
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Nepotism is the name of the game

Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad. 

ROUTE TO TITLE

Round 1: Beat Leolia Jeanjean 6-1, 6-2
Round 2: Beat Naomi Osaka 7-6, 1-6, 7-5
Round 3: Beat Marie Bouzkova 6-4, 6-2
Round 4: Beat Anastasia Potapova 6-0, 6-0
Quarter-final: Beat Marketa Vondrousova 6-0, 6-2
Semi-final: Beat Coco Gauff 6-2, 6-4
Final: Beat Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-2