High-profile people using Google’s Advanced Protection plan should look forward to some new features. The Protection plan aims to protect users from identity theft and targeted online attacks.
Google Advanced Protection
The Verge reports that Google’s Advanced Protection now lets users send suspicious files to Google for scanning. Once with Google, the data goes through the company’s Safe Browsing technology for the scan.
Google can now scan malicious files for Advanced Protection users https://t.co/rcosSUpTVx pic.twitter.com/F2WFcwQ8Q4
— The Verge (@verge) September 21, 2020
In the past, Advanced Protection only flagged or blocked suspicious downloads. However, with an update, Google now offers you a choice to stop the file or send it to Google for a thorough scan.
How Advanced Protection’s Scan Works
Approve the scan, and Google Chrome will upload it for the Safe Browsing scan. After that, Google will check the file’s metadata to check if it’s suspicious. If the file is malicious, Google will delete it from its servers right away.
However, even if Google has already said the file is risky, you can still download and open it if you want.
What Is Advanced Protection For?
Google says Advanced Protection’s new feature helps protect the Google accounts of high-profile people. These people include activists, journalists, politicians, among others. Attackers could try stealing sensitive data or holding data for ransom. If you want to use the new feature, you’ll need two physical security keys. One of these keys is for backup.
If you can’t get into your account, somehow, you can take Google’s additional steps to verify your identity. This way, Google could stop your account from falling into the wrong hands.
