Google Warns of Looming Cyber Attacks
The threat of cyber warfare seems to be an ever increasing one. It seems however that the White House might have an unlikely ally.
Earlier this summer search giant Google started warning users of its Gmail, Chrome web browser and search engine that state sponsored hackers may have tried to compromise their computer or Google account.
Far from being a one off, the same warning was issued again earlier this week. Google have said that since they started to monitor for supposedly state sponsored nastiness this summer, they've detected thousands more instances of cyber attack than they'd expected.
Mike Wiacek, a manager on Google’s information security team, said in an interview on Tuesday that since Google started to alert users to state-sponsored attacks three months ago, it had gathered new intelligence about attack methods and the groups deploying them. He said the company was using that information to warn “tens of thousands of new users” that they may have been targets, starting on Tuesday.
By Tuesday afternoon many were taking to Twitter to report being given the warning by Google. Mr. Wiacek noted that Google had seen an increase in state-sponsored activity coming from the Middle East. He declined to call out particular countries, but he said the activity was coming from “a slew of different countries” in the region.
It follows news last month that Iran is progressing with plans to create their own version of the Internet, blocking access to the likes of Google in the progress. There was also a story this summer that Australian troops were being friended on Facebook by Taliban members in an attempt to uncover troop positions.
Security researchers have said they have noticed an increase in cyberattacks originating in the region. “We absolutely have seen more activity from the Middle East, and in particular Iran has been increasingly active as they build up their cybercapabilities,” George Kurtz, the president of CrowdStrike, a computer security company, said in a recent interview.
If you receive the warning, Google recommends changing both your email and account passwords, enabling Google's two step authentication service and ensuring your computer has the latest software and anti virus updates.
Have you received the message?
Follow Technorati