Government-backed attack to my Crypto account and Google’s Advanced Protection Program
This Saturday (31st March) I was accessing my Gmail account as usual when suddenly something popped up at the top of the window:
At first sight I thought that it was a kind of scammy banner. But the certificate of the address was legit:
So after that I checked my extensions. I don’t install any third party extension on this browser, but I still checked the certificate just to make sure that the banner it wasn’t coming from a different source. Everything was clean as expected.
After these basic checks I searched for some information around regarding this message from Google. I discovered that it was a warning Google has been sending for some time: Google warns journalists and professors: Your account is under attack. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have been hacked as Shane Huntley, Google Threat Analysis Group stated:
These kind of warnings are sent to less than 0.1% of Google users.
Once I did the checks I continued by clicking “Secure my account” on the banner. Doing that I got the next message:
In the next step, Google offers you to join their Advanced Protection Program, which provides additional security measures.
At this point worth to mention that I always had:
- Strong alphanumeric password
- 2FA enabled with Google Authenticator in a burner phone
- Account fully disconnected from phone numbers.
So, the additional security measures consist off:
I already had few of them so was easy to setup everything.
The account targeted is my public mail where companies and people can easily reach me. Of course this mail address is only for that purpose and I’m not using it for Twitter, exchanges or any other high risk platform.
It is really concerning to know that governments are now targeting our Crypto accounts too. But maybe this is a good indicator of how concerned some of them are about decentralization and how blockchain can threaten the monopoly of power.
“The greatest menace to freedom is an inert people” Louis D. Brandeis
Thanks for your time
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