Cyberattacks can happen to anybody. Google knows that too well, and knows that it is responsible for its users' safety.
With the many of people's online activities have shifted to the clouds, where people also store files on the internet for convenience, Google is introducing an important security feature to all of its Google Drive users, in order to help them in protecting against potential suspicious or dangerous files.
This feature is introduced because a lot of people receive files from unknowns websites or sources, and share those files with others through Google Drive.
With this update, users are getting additional protection that will safeguard them against abusive content.
It comes in the form of a huge banner on top of the screen.
This banner will show up whenever Google Drive detects that users are opening a potentially suspicious or dangerous file in the app.
"The file looks suspicious. It might be used to steal your personal information," the banner reads.
The yellow banner is strikingly visible, so users could easily spot it, and quickly take precautions to protect themselves and their organization from malware, phishing and ransomware, as explained by Google on its blog post.
It is worth noting that these types of warnings already exist on Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings. It's only this time that Google brings the warning to its cloud storage product.
After all, the popularity of Google Drive as a file hosting and sharing service has increased tremendously.
This is because most people who are active on the internet are likely to have a Google account, and that Google Drive is fully integrated into Google's other services, meaning that users who have a Google account will get a 15GB of storage space for free.
What's more, Google Drive comes pre-installed on all Android phones.
These facts boost Google Drive's popularity, not only among ordinary users, but also among malicious actors who wish to host their malware and ransomware..
Among others, state-sponsored attack groups like Iran's APT35 is known to employ Google Drive among other tools to spread malicious PDFs, for example.
Realizing that use of this app as a file hosting and sharing service has increased more than ever, with more and more people are becoming more reliant on cloud storage services, Google seems to have realized the importance of having this alert system.
Google Drive is a file storage and synchronization service, first launched in 2012.
As a cloud storage, Google Drive allows users to store files in the clouds, so their files are synchronized across devices. Storing files in Google Drive also allows users to easily share their files.
As of July 2018, Google Drive had over one billion active users, and as of September 2015, it had over one million organizational paying users. As of May 2017, there were over two trillion files stored on the service.
This alert system was first announced by Google at its Cloud Next 2021, which took place back in October.
It's worth noting that the alert system is enabled by default, and has no admin control and no end-user setting. Users should also know that this banner alert is separate to the alert Google issues to users targeted by suspected state-sponsored hackers.
The feature is being rolled out gradually to all users on Google Workspace, G Suite Basic, and Business users within the next 15 days after the announcement.
This feature should be a supplementary safety measure to Google Drive's existing protection against abusive content and behavior.