The scheme involves a text message that appears to come from 'Gmail from Google,' warning recipients that their account has been compromised. The message includes a link labeled 'Recover Account.' When users click it, they are prompted to enter their Gmail password, which is then captured by scammers. In some cases, attackers can combine stolen information with personal details, like your phone number.
For Gmail users, there is an automatic opt-in that may allow Google access to your emailed data (think: your personal and work messages, your attachments) "to train AI models," cybersecurity experts allege. If you don't want this information shared, you need to adjust your settings. In the race for companies to get an ROI on AI, we're already seeing language learning models running out of new, human-generated data to train on.
Very few users are in a position to audit what a . Reading code, inspecting traffic or evaluating a security assessment is out of reach for most people. Privacy policies are long and often written to protect the company more than to inform the user. In practice, this leaves visible cues such as badges, rankings and reviews doing most of the work.
Web browsers are among the top targets for today's cybercriminals, playing a role in nearly half of all security incidents, new research reveals. According to Palo Alto Networks' 2026 Global Incident Response report, an analysis of 750 major cyber incidents recorded last year across 50 countries found that, in total, 48% of cybercrime events involved browser activity. Individuals trying to connect to the web, including business employees, are exposed to cyberthreats on a daily basis.
While you're thinking about third-party add-ons for your computer and phone, take a moment to review everything you have installed on both fronts and consider how many of those programs you actually still use. The fewer cracked windows you allow on your Google account, the better - and if you aren't even using something, there's no reason to keep it connected.
