Google Launches Free Password Alert

Phishing attacks succeed 45 percent of the time, which is why Google launched a free Password Alert Wednesday, Google Security Engineer Drew Hintz and Google Ideas Product Manager Justin Kosslyn wrote in a blog post. “Nearly 2 percent of messages to Gmail are designed to trick people into giving up their passwords.” Google’s new Password Alert protects Google and Google Apps for Work Accounts by warning if a site isn’t a Google sign-in page, but asks for a Google password, they said. The Chrome-extension remembers a “scrambled” version of the Google password for a consumer account, so if a password is typed into a site that isn’t actually a Google page, Password Alert will notify the consumer, Google said. For Google Work customers, an administrator can receive alerts when a problem is detected, they said. “This can help spot malicious attackers trying to break into employee accounts and also reduce password reuse,” Google said.