GMail beefs up anti-phishing features

Search giant Google added more muscle to the anti-phishing functions in its Gmail service, warning users of potentially dangerous messages. The new feature will display added details about the sender's email address if the sender is not included in the Gmail recipient's contact list. "Gmail will also automatically detect suspicious messages and display a warning when it looks like someone may have spoofed a Gmail address (we do this by evaluating the message’s authentication data)," software engineer Ela Iwaszkiewicz said in a blog post. Phishing messages attempt to deceive recipients to gain access to their personal information, including passwords. Iwaszkiewicz said displaying more information about the origin of certain messages can help a recipient be better informed and avoid getting tricked. "If someone fakes a message from a sender that you trust, like your bank, you can more easily see that the message is not really from where it says it’s from," Iwaszkiewicz said. Similarly, Iwaszkiewicz said Gmail will indicate if websites are sending emails on behalf of someone, such as when a friend sends an article from a website using one of the site’s “Share this story" links. Iwaszkiewicz asked recipients to report phishing attempts to Gmail by clicking the down arrow next to “Reply" at the top-right of the message and selecting “Report phishing." — TJD, GMA News