Over the last many weeks, we’ve read about Apple’s case against the US government. Some say the FBI is just keeping us safe. Others argue our civil liberties and privacy rights are being violated. It seems that Apple isn’t the only ones fighting the fight against alleged government misbehavior.
Google’s Gmail will let you know when you’re being target and when you’re about to open a suspicious email link. They’ve always warned you when a linked was clicked. Now, a warning will show up between the link is clicked and when the link is actually downloaded. Right before the link is opened, Gmail will give you one last chance to ignore the page. Google wants to stop it’s customers from wandering onto malicious sites, and give them every opportunity to keep from wandering before it’s too late. This warning includes government associated hackers and cyber attacks. Google admits the probability of someone getting this last warning is 0.1%. But if you’re a known journalist, activist, or blogger who is critical of the US government and foreign governments , that number will surely increase. Gmail has been stepping it’s security up lately. They’re going to start warning email senders who send emails using TLS encryption.
Gmail’s security over government hacking isn’t the only issue. We all know stories by now about people hacking for financial reasons, as well as for sexually perverted reasons. But for the last three years, there’s been a growing concern of cyber attacks by rival governments overseas, as international tensions continue to escalate. ?There’s also concerned about our own government spying on us and doing online misbehavior to it’s own citizens. This is especially true if for someone who is criticizing the government. A lot of people are doing so. Just look at social media. Something tells me that 0.1% is going to increase and increase in a hurry. Is Google Gmail doing the right thing here?