Google LLC announced today a set of new artificial intelligence-powered cyber defence controls, the majority of which will be deployed to its Workspace cloud platform later this year.
Data loss prevention, often known as DLP, and data privacy controls are among the topics that are covered.
Many of these involve a series of automated updates that use Google Drive's AI engine to continuously analyse data input. Administrators for Google's Workspace, which the company claims is used by 9 million organisations, can establish incredibly specific context-aware policy controls, such as looking for certain device locations.
The DLP technology has already been available in Google services such as Chat and Chrome browsers, and it will be extended to Gmail later this year. The purpose is to assist business information technology managers in defending against phishing scams that may steal data and account information.
Another set of features includes upgrades to Sovereign Controls in Workspace, which Google introduced last year. These include providing client-side encryption to mobile versions of Google Calendar, Gmail, and Meet to prevent third-party data access.
,Another feature allows users to browse, modify, or convert Microsoft Excel files into GSheets. In addition, Google is collaborating with Thales SA, Stormshield, and Flowcrypt to keep encryption keys in their own repositories. Google has not and will not store any of the encryption keys on its own servers.
A last set of tools can be used to combat phishing and other attacks. Many Workspace account administrators may need to set up additional authorisation factors for their accounts later this year. According to Google, it will begin with its top resellers and enterprise customers. It will also demand multiparty approvals for specific high-risk actions, such as updating authentication settings, later this year.
Finally, the company said that clients will be able to integrate their Workspace activity and alert logs into Chronicle, Google's threat data ingestion and anomaly detection service. For example, Andy Wen, director of product management for Google Workspace, stated during a press conference that a bad actor could see the following two events: a search for active cryptocurrency wallets followed by the creation of a mail forwarding rule to an external account. This situation could be flagged as suspicious by Chronicle for further examination.
