Google warns Gmail users about state-sponsored email hacking

[didymus]

CNET:

Google warns Gmail users about state-sponsored email hacking

Google hasn’t been shy about wagging its finger at China recently. And in what appears to be another veiled snipe at Chinese authorities, the tech company says it is now warning users if state-sponsored phishing or malware attacks appear to have targeted their Gmail accounts.

“We are constantly on the lookout for malicious activity on our systems, in particular attempts by third parties to log into users’ accounts unauthorized,” Eric Grosse, vice president of security engineering at Google, wrote in a blog post today. “When we have specific intelligence – either directly from users or from our own monitoring efforts – we show clear warning signs and put in place extra roadblocks to thwart these bad actors.”

In such cases, a notice will appear at the top of the Gmail page that says “Warning: We believe state-sponsored attackers may be attempting to compromise your account or computer.”
If that warning appears, it doesn’t mean the account was successfully hijacked. It just means that the account appears to have been a target, and that Google is urging the account holder to change the password and set up additional security precautions.
In addition to creating a strong password that combines lowercase and capital letters, numbers and punctuation marks, Gmail are advised to set up two-step verification that texts a one-time code to the account holder’s phone to enable a login.