Google introduces major security change to Messages
The secure messaging market has never been a hotter potato than it is right now, and Google has never really been considered one of the major players in this space, with WhatsApp and Signal taking center stage. However, a new Google Messages security update announcement may help change the narrative. Here’s what you need to know.
5 new ways Google is securing your messages
The October 22 announcement, posted on the Google Security Blog by Jan Jedrzejowicz, product director for Android and business communications, along with Alberto Pastor Nieto, a senior product manager for Google Messages, RCS Spam and Abuse, and several others, confirmed five new protections that Google said will help keep your messages safe.
So what new protections does this Google Messages security update bring to Android’s secure messaging side, beyond existing end-to-end RCS encrypted chats with other Messages RCS users?
First on the list comes with what Google calls Enhanced Discovery Protection. Designed to protect against common phishing scams that plague us all, such as package delivery notifications, for example. Google is rolling this out now to beta users, which brings improved text analysis and either an automated move of anything dangerous to your spam folder or a pop-up warning. “Google Messages uses on-device machine learning models to classify these scams,” Google said, “so your conversations remain private and the content is never sent to Google unless you report spam.”
Then comes smart warnings to flag potentially dangerous links, something that has already rolled out in several geographies and, Google said, will expand globally before the end of the year.
Number three are the controls to disable messages from unknown international senders, which make it easy to automatically hide those who aren’t already in your contacts. Initially, this is rolling out to limited locations, but will roll out to more locations in due course.
The fourth move in this Google Messages security update comes by way of sensitive content warnings. This is, pretty much, what it says on the box: control over the images containing nudity that you may be exposed to. “Sensitive content warnings are an optional feature that blurs images that may contain nudity before they are viewed,” Google said, “and then searches with a ‘speed bump’ containing resources and options for finding help, including viewing content.” Again, this all happens on privacy protection devices. Importantly, the feature is opt-in for adults, but opt-in for those under 18.
And finally, improved message confirmation comes to the Google Messages dashboard. This is intended to protect against more sophisticated threats, especially contact impersonation. This is coming soon in the form of a contact verification feature for Android users to help you make sure who you’re talking to. “This new feature will allow you to verify your contacts’ public keys so you can confirm you’re communicating with the person you intend to message,” Google said, “We’re creating a unified system for verifying the public key across different applications, which you can verify by scanning the QR code or comparing the numbers.”
This new Google Messages security update is a move in the right direction for Google
While not all of these Google Messages security update protections will be available to all users in all regions at the same time, they combine to show that Google understands the importance of not only improving security in background, but also do so in a very visible way. to increase user confidence in the Messaging product. “We’re committed to constantly developing new controls and features to make your Google Messages conversations even more secure and private,” Google said.