Google Introduced Additional Verification To Gmail Settings To Prevent Email Hijacking

Google has announced that it would add additional verification procedures to several important Gmail settings in order to combat email hijacking. To modify a filter or add an address in Gmail, you must now provide verification. According to the company's blog, "we introduced strong security measures for sensitive operations of Google Workspace accounts last year." We are now adding this to Gmail's sensitive setting so that it will verify itself anytime someone visits it. 

Need for Extra Verification

The extra verification will be required for the following cases, according to Google's blog post:

• Filters: add a new filter, change an existing one, or import filters.

• Forwarding: In the Forwarding and POP/IMAP settings, enter a new forwarding address.

• IMAP access: From the settings, enable the IMAP access status. (Workspace administrators control whether or not this setting is visible to end users.)

Who Will Get Extra Verification?

Google will seek verification if it detects any unusual behaviour in a Gmail account. Users will be contacted by email if the verification fails. All Google Workspace clients and individual Google account holders that use Google as their identity provider and support activities within Google products will be able to use the additional verification. This feature will not be available to users that sign in using third-party providers or use external email clients.