Google powers up users' Gmail security arsenal
A look at new Gmail security features that let you know where else you're logged in.
(Credit: Google)Gmail users now have some extra ways to make sure no one can snoop around in their e-mail accounts, a post Monday afternoon on the Official Gmail Blog explained. The Google e-mail service provider is introducing a feature so that members can see where they're logged in and then opt to log out if they want.
The feature is currently rolling out to Gmail members using the Firefox and Internet Explorer browsers.
At the bottom of your Gmail window, you will now see if you're logged on in any other locations, the post by engineer Erwin D'Souza explained. You can then click through to find out the other IP addresses where you're logged in, and whether those locations are Web-based, on mobile devices, or elsewhere.
Finally, in the event that you see your ex's iPhone listed as one of the IP addresses, you can click a button to sign out all locations other than the one where you're currently clicking around on Gmail. Then it's time to think about whether it's creepy that you know the IP address of your ex's iPhone.
"If you are anything like me, you probably sign in to Gmail from multiple computers," D'Souza wrote. "I, for example, occasionally sign into my Gmail account from a friend's house when I need to check an important email. Usually I remember to sign out, but every once in a while I wonder if I really did. Now I no longer have to wonder."
Caroline McCarthy, a CNET News staff writer, is a downtown Manhattanite happily addicted to social-media tools and restaurant blogs. Her pre-CNET resume includes interning at an IT security firm and brewing cappuccinos. E-mail Caroline.
If another browser is logged in, that means they also have access to this tool and can (theoretically) kick you out, then change the password.
And yet I still can't get a feature to block emails where my name is not in the To: line. Amazing.
Not all users with access to your Gmail account want to change the password, they want to read emails stealthily and thats all. Raising suspicion by letting the victim know you're there isn't something they want to do.
If they kicked you out and changed the password they wouldn't be able to read your emails anymore, hence why they don't kick you out and change the password.
You've got to remember why people break into web mail accounts in the first place, its not to steal your account, its to read emails and gather intelligence.
However, this feature is pointless in the sense of detecting if the government is snooping, as the government monitor your Gmail account in different ways.
This feature is only going to detect low-level snooping by bedroom teens, criminals and stalkers.
The end game is, the government are still reading your web emails and won't show up on this system.
It is a stupid feature in the sense its giving gullible Gmail users a false sense of security in that, if they see no rogue IP addresses logging into their Gmail account, that they think no one is snooping and reading their emails, that isn't the case.
This system won't detect government snooping, the government simply send a national security letter to Google Mail and they are granted full access to backend visualisation stats, graphs and other neat features to watch everything thats going on with your Gmail account.
You can probably bet this system purposely ignores known government addresses anyway in an agreement between the government and Google, so yeah completely misleading system this is.
All the best,
n3td3v
See, I'm one of those folks who don't really care. In my point of view privacy is overrated. I think that, yes, privacy is good, but if the government needs to check my e-mail for a potential lead on a terrorist, by all means be my guest!
... "if the government needs to check my e-mail for a potential lead on a terrorist, by all means be my guest!"
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That's the same attitude that prevailed in Germany back in the 1930's, it's the same attitude that allowed the nazi's to get as powerful as they were. It led to the formation of the German stasi, which only recently "disbanded" (repatriated by fuhrer bushit because some people just never learn). Thank you for helping to roll back human rights another 70 some odd years.
I just checked mine, and although not exactly comprehensive it is better than nothing.
It only seems to give the last 5 instances.
On my list of IP addresses was what I expected (as I'd just tried it out), laptop, PC and mobile phone, but there was one I did not recognise so I looked it up on www.melissadata.com:
IP Address 72.14.241.46, Country UNITED STATES, ISP GOOGLE INC. (about 0200 hrs BST-UK).
So, does that mean someone at google is checking up on me? One of their employees just having a look around?
I guess, I'll just wait until I get home to check my gmail :-(
I will continue to use my lycos, aim, yahoo, rr.com, aol mail, go, msn, netscape accounts on my laptop- they seem to work anywhere!
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by febagent
August 25, 2008 11:16 AM PDT
- seems to be a useless feature when only able to show 5 records, we use google biz apps, which i have on my desktop and blackberry via pop3, so 5 records is only the 45mins worth of records given the frequency of the bberry push mail and my outlook send/receives, now if they could show a month's worth of activity, that would be another story
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