The Google team is introducing new Gmail security updates that include warnings to keep your email safer. These warnings are meant to notify you as an email user that the email sender is not authenticated via either SPF (Sender Policy Framework) or DKIM (Domainkeys Identified Mail).
The warning looks like the example below, at right is a non-authenticated sender:
The above will be the case for web email and Android: a user icon will be displaying a red question mark if the sender us unauthenticated.
This security measure is also implemented on the web with regards to links. If you receive a message with a link to a site known for questionable content like malware, phishing or unwanted software, a notice is shown:
Warnings like the above one are an extension of the Safe Browsing protection available to various web browsers today.
Availability of the above Gmail security updates will be roughly in two weeks from now. The full article on the update can be found on the official Google blog here.
Over the years, Google has been battling the ‘bad’ web in several ways, which includes spam, phishing and scamming efforts. For example, a new Gmail login was introduced last year to increase account security. Besides that, in 2014, Gmail went all https and availability of the email service was improved as well.
These constant Gmail security updates are an important factor in Google’s web business, as more than a billion people are using Gmail these days. This according to the newest Gmail usage figures from earlier this year.
Other more email client side developments have been the launch of Inbox by Gmail in 2014, an evolution from the standard Gmail app. Inbox by Gmail has recently been updated with support for Trello and Github, among other new features.