By far one of the most common methods hackers use to infiltrate your inbox is what’s called a “phishing attack.” In a phishing attack, an Internet bad guy tricks you into sending him your password by emailing you a link to a trap site disguised as a legitimate login page.
Thankfully, Google just gave all of us what looks like a great new tool to avoid these all-too-common attacks. Called “Password Alert,” the new Google Chrome browser extension alerts you whenever you enter your Google login credentials on a non-Google site, then prompts you to immediately change your password. It also attempts to be a little more proactive by identifying fake login sites before you enter your password at all, though that’s a harder task.
Google Ideas Product Manager Justin Kosslyn detailed the new Password Alert tool to Fortune:
“It works like a spellchecker,” Kosslyn says, explaining the mechanism. The tool triggers based on the length of the password being typed in, he says. Chrome stores a partial fingerprint of the password—a partial salted hash, to be technical, rather than the password itself—and if it detects that a Google password is being reused, the alarm sets off. “It’s able to use this math trick to determine whether there is a match,” he says.
Proud of its success rate, the team decided to take the product public. “It has caught real-world phishing attacks on Googlers,” Kosslyn says, “That’s one of things that made us very keen on open sourcing it and making it available for users as well.”
You can download Password Alert for Google Chrome here.
The 10 Most Ambitious Google Projects
Google Driverless Car
The Google Self-Driving Car has been in the works since 2005 after a team of engineers won a grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to design an autonomous car. The project, which aims to reduce traffic accidents, has made headway in recent years as states passed laws permitting self-driving cars. Google plans a commercial release between 2017 and 2020.David Paul Morris—Bloomberg/Getty ImagesGoogle has been testing balloons which sail into the stratosphere and beam Internet down to Earth. Jon Shenk—APGoogle's smart contact lenses.Google/APGoogle Lively
Google Lively was a web-based virtual community space where users could design avatars, chat with one another and personalize their online hangout space. The project was discontinued after a six-month stint in 2008 after limited success.Google/APGoogle Earth
Google's virtual map of the Earth allows users to tour the earth with 3-D satellite images. The project, which dates back to 2004, has already found significant applications in disaster relief.Google/APProject Ara
Google's build-your-own-smartphone project allows users to customize their handsets to their own preferences, with the possibility of eliminating electronic waste by encouraging users to add hardware updates on their own terms. The team is working towards a limited market pilot in 2015.Bryan Bedder—Getty Images for Engadget ExpandDisease Detecting Pill
Google unveiled its plans to disease-detecting ingestible pill in October, a project that'll let patients access their real-time health data to encourage preventative care. The pill will contain nanoparticles that can bind to certain cells and chemicals, with the possibility of detecting diseases like cancer in early stages.Getty ImagesFlying Wind Turbines
The flying windmill is the project of Makani Power, a wind turbine developer acquired by Google in 2013. The tethered airborne turbines will harness wind energy for the goal of producing low-cost, renewable energyAndrea Dunlap—Makani Power/APGoogle+
Google's social networking platform launched in 2011, the most successful service after several flops at designing a Facebook competitor, like the now-retired Google Buzz. Today, Google+ boasts over half a billion monthly active users.Stephen Lam—ReutersGoogle Books
Google Books dates back to 2004, when Google partnered with libraries and universities to plan to digitize millions of volumes over the next several years. The project aims to make searching books as easy as searching the web.Getty Images
