Google Inc. (GOOG): Cyberattacks Getting More Frequent

With the recent chatter in the news lately about state-sponsored hacking of U.S. computer systems by hackers in China (reported to be from within the nation’s military), there is starting to be some renewed interest in cyberattacks around the world. Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has een prominent in working to secure its free services – including Gmail – but the company itself is warning that hackers are getting more and more clever about how to gain access to various Google Accounts and those hacks are doing some significant damage.

In a blog post, Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) security officer Mike Hearn wrote, “Compared to five years ago, more scams [and] illegal, fraudulent, or spammy messages today come from someone you know. Although spam filters have become very powerful — in Gmail, less than 1 percent of spam e-mails make it into an in-box — these unwanted messages are much more likely to make it through if they come from someone you’ve been in contact with before. As a result, in 2010 spammers started changing their tactics — and we saw a large increase in fraudulent mail sent from Google Accounts.”

Hearn noted that hackers and spammers are working around Google’s spam filters by getting into legitimate Google Accounts, and with prolific speeds. He has noted that a single hacker was known for stealing many passwords and trying to break into Google accounts by the million per day for weeks, and there was a group of hackers that was trying to access 100 accounts per second. Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) claimed it has stepped up its security measures with a risk analysis and looking at about 120 variables to determine whether a login is legitimate or requires follow-up questions. The company boasts that since its enhanced security measures, the number of compromised accounts has dropped 99.7 percent since the peak just two years ago.

What do you think? Is Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) right? Is the Internet secure, and how safe are our personal accounts? We’d like your thoughts in the comments section below.

DISCLOSURE: I own no positions in any stock mentioned.

Please see these related GOOG articles:

Google Stock Leaps to All-time Best $800 Milestone

Driverless Cars Will Benefit Everyone

Google Will Go Even Higher