New Gmail Security Alert For 2.5 Billion Users As AI Hack Confirmed
Update, Oct. 12, 2024: This story, originally published Oct. 11, includes details of a new anti-scam alliance initiative from Google to help users fight fraudsters.
Google has implemented increasingly sophisticated protections against those who would compromise your Gmail account—but hackers using AI-driven attacks are also evolving. According to Google’s own figures, there are currently more than 2.5 billion users of the Gmail service. No wonder, then, that it is such a target for hackers and scammers. Here’s what you need to know.
Sam Mitrovic, a Microsoft solutions consultant, has issued a warning after almost falling victim to what is described as a “super realistic AI scam call” capable of tricking even the most experienced of users.
It all started a week before Mitrovic realized the sophistication of the attack that was targeting him. “I received a notification to approve a Gmail account recovery attempt,” Mitrovic recounts in a blog post warning other Gmail users of the threat in question. The need to confirm an account recovery, or a password reset, is a notorious phishing attack methodology intended to drive the user to a fake login portal where they need to enter their credentials to report the request as not initiated by them.
