Gmail warns 1.8 billion users of new ‘sophisticated’ cyberattack: How to detect the scam

Gmail users worldwide have been advised to stay vigilant as cleverly designed phishing scams are already slipping past the tech giant’s own security systems and catching people off guard.

Artificial intelligence is helping cyber criminals make almost indistinguishable Google-sounding phone calls and follow-up emails. These emails, generally pointing out urgent legal concerns like subpoenas, are chock-full of invented urgency to make users click on malicious links.

“Cybercriminals are constantly developing new tactics, techniques, and procedures to exploit vulnerabilities and bypass security controls, and companies must be able to quickly adapt and respond to these threats,” Spencer Starkey, vice-president at SonicWall, told UNILAD.

ALSO READ| AI could end all diseases in the next 10 years: Google DeepMind CEO's bold claim

Cyberattack exploiting Gmail's update account warning system

Developer Nick Johnson was one of the first to sound the alarm after he was personally targeted by this new scam. “The first thing to note is that this is a valid, signed email — it really was sent from no-reply@google.com,” Johnson explained in a detailed X (formerly Twitter) post.

“It passes the DKIM signature check, and Gmail displays it without any warnings — it even puts it in the same conversation as other, legitimate security alerts.”

Surprisingly, after receiving a call or email, users are directed to a fake Google website — one that looks nearly identical to the real thing. Worst of all, the emails are sent from legitimate domains and are properly signed, so Gmail is unable to flag them as suspicious.

“We’re aware of this class of targeted attack from the threat actor, Rockfoils, and have been rolling out protections for the past week,” a Google spokesperson told Newsweek. “These protections will soon be fully deployed, which will shut down this avenue for abuse.”

ALSO READ| Amazon and Google suspend US green card applications for immigrants

“We’re aware of this class of targeted attack from this threat actor and have rolled out protections to shut down this avenue for abuse,” another spokesperson also told UNILAD.

“In the meantime, we encourage users to adopt two-factor authentication and passkeys, which provide strong protection against these kinds of phishing campaigns.”