March 25, 2010

Google has introduced a new Geolocation based feature for its Gmail users. This new feature will alert Gmail users whenever a suspicious activity is detected in their accounts. Many users never get to know if their account was used by someone to send ransom or obscene email. Next time, if someone else but you has logged into your Gmail account, Google will point it out. Suspicious activity in Gmail account would be notified by a red warning message after the IP address has been matched with the geographical location.

Engineering director Pavni Diwaniji noted, in the blog post that, "While we don't have the capability to determine the specific location from which an account is accessed, a login appearing to come from one country and occurring a few hours after a login from another country may trigger an alert." For instance, if you're located in India and someone else has accessed your Gmail account from Nigeria, Google's automated system will resolve the IP address and show up a red warning message that states - Warning: We believe your account was recently accessed from: Nigeria.

Google already offers remote sign out feature to its Gmail users. Users can also get details of their Gmail account activity through a Details link located after 'Last account activity' at the bottom of Inbox. If your Gmail account has been compromised lately, then change the password immediately. Those who were on the move and travelling abroad can always click on 'Dismiss' to stop that message from showing up.
Do note that Google would be simply offering an alert in form of a message banner and this is not a replacement of its standard security practices. However, this service is not available to Google Apps customers currently.

Source:-http://www.techtree.com/