Gmail Gets Visual Cues For Improving Security

A couple of new visual cues have been added to Gmail today as part of Google’s celebration of Safer Internet Day. For now on, Gmail is going to flag emails from non-encrypted sources. Gmail users who send or receive messages from email providers that don’t support TLS encryption will see a tiny unlocked padlock icon in the compose window. Clicking on that icon will bring up a dialog box that has a warning for the user.

The dialog warns the user if their message has information that they would like to remain confidential then it would be best to advise the recipient to use an email service that does support TLS encryption, an email provider like Google for example.

Another visual cue that has been added to Gmail today automatically flags email contacts whose identity can not be verified. All emails that come in from an unauthorized source will now have a question mark displayed in the place where you normally see the profile photo of a recognized contact.

It’s important to note that all emails with question marks won’t exactly be dangerous but it does serve as an extra reminder to be cautious when going through that email. After all, it’s not exactly hard to get trapped in a phishing attack.

As part of Safer Internet Day, Google has brought back its 2GB free Google Drive storage offer for all users who perform a quick security check on their Google account. You can do that now to claim an additional 2GB of free cloud storage.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Web
Tags: GMail, Google, google drive