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Google has made an announcement stating its plans to extend Dark Web monitoring to all Gmail users in the United States, with a later expansion to international markets. This new feature will allow Gmail users to conduct scans to check if their Gmail address appears on the Dark Web, and they will receive guidance on how to take necessary actions to protect themselves.

Previously, the Dark Web scan feature was exclusively available to Google One subscribers in the US. However, within the next few weeks, it will become accessible to all Gmail users. Google also mentioned its intention to expand access to the Dark Web report to selected international markets.

Jen Fitzpatrick, SVP of Google Core services, highlighted that the company already safeguards Gmail users from approximately 15 billion unwanted messages on a daily basis. They achieve this by blocking over 99.9 percent of spam, phishing attempts, and malware. Furthermore, Google intends to enhance spam protection within Google Drive. They will introduce a new view that simplifies the sorting and reviewing of files, allowing users to identify potential spam and protect themselves from unwanted or harmful content.

To further enhance user safety, Google Drive will automatically classify content into a spam view, similar to the functionality in Gmail. This will prevent users from encountering dangerous or undesirable files. Additionally, Google is launching a new tool called “About this Image” to assist individuals in evaluating the credibility of visual content discovered online. This tool will provide users with important contextual information about images, such as the date of first indexing by Google, where it was initially found, and where else it has appeared online, including news, social, or fact-checking sites.

Google has recently become the first major technology company to enable passkey sign-in on its platform. Passkeys combine the high level of security offered by 2-Step Verification (2SV) with the convenience of simply unlocking the device.

Google Authenticator is a valuable Google service that is underutilized by many people. With the increasing adoption of two-factor authentication (2FA), it is becoming apparent that relying on text messages as a second form of verification is not secure enough. Therefore, using a service like Google Authenticator is an easy alternative to switch to.

Although using Google Authenticator is generally easy, it can become complicated if the device storing your 2FA codes is lost or stolen. However, Google has announced a change to Google Authenticator that should help users deal with this situation. The service now supports Google Account synchronization on both iOS and Android, allowing users to back up their one-time codes to their Google Account. This is a significant improvement.

Google has received feedback over the years regarding the complexity of dealing with a lost or stolen device when using Google Authenticator. The account synchronization feature should make this less of an issue, as your codes can now be stored in your Google Account. The new version of Authenticator with account synchronization should be rolling out as version 6.0. Users simply need to update the app to the newest version and follow some prompts to get started.

The update process is straightforward, with the first prompt asking users to choose their Google Account to sync to. From there, users can start adding codes, switch between light and dark mode, transfer accounts, change accounts, and more. Additionally, the app icon has been updated from the old grey “G” logo to a more colorful image.