Google Gmail security has just got a little tighter with a new geolocation feature which will warn you if there’s a rash of login attempts from wildly different locations. While Google has long let you know when you’re logged into Gmail from two different computers, it’ll now warn you if you appear to login from Poland when you usually access Gmail from Crouch End.
The new Google Gmail feature uses the IP address of a computer logging in to your Gmail account to work out the location. If your recent logins come from locations that are strangely far apart within a short timeframe, Google will display a big red banner in Gmail warning you of a login attempt from an unusual location.
Once Gmail has let you know, Google lets you check the details of recent login attempts. You can either approve them as accurate (for instance if you’ve just been travelling a lot) or identify them as a genuine attack on your Gmail account with Google giving you a quick link to change your password there and then.
Pavni Diwanji, Google’s engineering director, introduced the Gmail security update by recounting the story of a friend whose email account had been compromised while he was travelling in London: “By reading his email, the scammer had hijacked his account and tried to use it to score a quick buck.”
Have you had your email hacked before? Let us know.
Out now | £free | Google
