{"id":336749,"date":"2017-03-25T06:39:28","date_gmt":"2017-03-24T22:39:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/?p=1468864"},"modified":"2017-03-25T06:39:28","modified_gmt":"2017-03-24T22:39:28","slug":"what-to-do-about-those-government-backed-attack-warnings-from-google","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/what-to-do-about-those-government-backed-attack-warnings-from-google\/","title":{"rendered":"What to do about those \u2018government-backed attack\u2019 warnings from Google"},"content":{"rendered":"

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TOTALLY PANIC.<\/p>\n

Just kidding; please don\u2019t do that. Google regularly issues warnings to people whose accounts are or have been targeted by state-sponsored attackers, and every time it does, users get really nervous that their emails are going to wind up on WikiLeaks. Don\u2019t freak out if you get one of these notices \u2014 it doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that your account has been compromised, it just means you should think about taking a few extra steps to secure your account.<\/p>\n

I got a \u201cgovernment-backed attack\u201d warning. What does it mean?<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

You\u2019re in good company \u2014 lots of journalists and academics<\/a> have received warnings like these. According to Google, it means that a sophisticated attacker has tried to gain access to your account using phishing, malware or some other tactic.<\/p>\n

Just because you get a warning doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019ve been hacked, though.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe send these out of an abundance of caution \u2014 the notice does not necessarily mean that the account has been compromised or that there is a widespread attack. Rather, the notice reflects our assessment that a government-backed attacker has likely attempted to access the user\u2019s account or computer through phishing or malware, for example,\u201d\u00a0Shane Huntley, a member of Google\u2019s Threat Analysis Group, wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, you\u2019re unlikely to hear more information, such as when the attack happened or whether or not it was successful. Google doesn\u2019t always send the warnings out right away and doesn\u2019t give specifics about the attack or the responsible parties because it doesn\u2019t want to tip hackers off about how they were detected. If Google says too much, the attackers will change their tactics \u2014 and then Google might not be able to warn you about the next attack.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn order to secure some of the details of our detection, we often send a batch of warnings to groups of at-risk users at the same time, and not necessarily in real-time,\u201d Huntley added.<\/p>\n

So what do I do now?<\/h2>\n
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It’s crucially important to neither under- nor overestimate these warnings.<\/p>\n

If you get one: #1 don’t panic & #2 take appropriate action. https:\/\/t.co\/GwQMUbuKs4<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Stephan Somogyi (@thinkpanzer) March 24, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n

Google recommends several steps to secure your account. The company offers\u00a0a quick Security Checkup<\/a>, which lets you review\u00a0the devices and apps that have access to your account and double-checks your account recovery method.<\/p>\n

Google makes some additional recommendations<\/a> to high-risk users that will help prevent account compromise:<\/p>\n