The false alarm may also have stemmed from a separate blog post in July, in which Google warned of increasing phishing activity
Google has denied claims that Gmail was hit by a major security breach, dismissing reports that it had issued warnings to its entire user base of 2.5 billion people.
The company addressed the issue in a blog post this week, describing the claims as “entirely false”. “Several inaccurate claims surfaced recently that incorrectly stated that we issued a broad warning to all Gmail users about a major Gmail security issue,” Google wrote.
Speculation over Gmail’s security was fuelled by reports last week from outlets including Mashable, which suggested that users had been urged to change their passwords following a large-scale hack and a surge in phishing attacks. Yet many Gmail users were left puzzled, having received no such notification.
Google confirmed that it had experienced a security incident earlier this year, though on a much smaller scale than reported. In June, attackers breached the company’s corporate Salesforce server – a customer relationship management system – but were only able to access publicly available business information, such as names and contact details, before being removed. The company said those affected had been notified by early August.
The false alarm may also have stemmed from a separate blog post in July, in which Google warned of increasing phishing activity. That post, however, did not reference a specific attack and was tied to the announcement of new security protections.
While phishing attempts remain a persistent threat, Google said Gmail’s defences remain “strong and effective” and there is no evidence of a mass breach of user accounts.
