Google Efforts To Prevent Users From Phishing And Disinformation Attacks Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Google is trying to help users affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (photo: doc. unsplash)

JAKARTA - Google is taking action to help users affected by the ongoing Russia and Ukraine conflict, by addressing cyber threats and privacy-related risks.

In a lengthy Twitter thread, Google for Europe details a list of actions it takes to automatically protect user accounts, as well as actions users can themselves take to improve their privacy and security through freely available account features.

Google made it clear that it continues to seek to monitor and disrupt financially motivated disinformation, hacking, and abuse campaigns surrounding the conflict between the two countries.

These efforts include collaboration with other companies and relevant government agencies to address the growing threat.

At the user level, Google automatically increases account security protections for people in conflict-affected areas. This includes actions such as automatically enabling two-factor authentication (2FA) for users who have not enabled it and promoting the use of its Advanced Protection Program.

The Advanced Protection Program offers extra protection for individuals who believe they may be at a higher than usual risk of being targeted by malicious actors.

Usually those targets include Ukrainian government officials, journalists and anyone else who may be targeted by hackers, nationally sponsored or freelance hackers.

As ZDNet announced, Tuesday, March 1, for users in conflict zones, as well as browsing information about them, Google has enabled Safe Browsing mode by default, this will identify phishing and malware attempts from across the web for users on any of the Chrome browsers or its branded sites.

Users who want additional protection against malicious downloads can also access Google's free VirusTotal service, which analyzes files for suspicious data or URLs, including recently discovered removal malware known to target users in Ukraine and Latvia.

Finally, the company details a series of ongoing efforts to combat misinformation and propaganda campaigns, including changing YouTube to feature videos from trusted news sources, and removing hundreds of channels and thousands of videos that provide misinformation as well as violations.

Also, all ads that try to exploit the crisis will be blocked. However, Google is simultaneously donating $2 million worth of ad space to humanitarian organizations to help connect people on the ground seeking resources with information.