Google Just Made Gmail the Most Secure Email Provider on the Planet

October 18, 2017 – 10:57 AM

Anyone with a Gmail account can now activate what the company calls “Advanced Protection,” a set of features that make it harder to hack into your Google account. These are aimed specifically at “high-risk” users, as Google puts it. That is political campaign staffers, activists, journalists, or people in abusive relationships.

The main advantage in terms of security is the need for a key or token to log in as the second factor, instead of a code sent via SMS or via app. This is much better because there’s no way for hackers to steal or phish this key from afar (there have been isolated incidents of hackers using social engineering to gain access to someone’s cell phone number by getting the provider to issue a new SIM card, for instance).

Thanks to these new features, Gmail is now the most secure email provider available on the internet if you are worried about hackers breaking into your private correspondence.

Source:

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/kz74ym/google-gmail-advanced-protection-security-keys-yubikeygmail-advanced-protection-security-keys-yubikey