Google LLC is taking advantage of a quiet news week to beef up the security of its user accounts. The company today announced four new features that are designed to beef up protection before and after users log in, and also when their accounts get hacked.

The updates were announced by Google product manager Jonathan Skelker. As of today, he said, it’s no longer possible to log in to a Google account if JavaScript, the programming language used to enable interactive web pages, has been turned off.

Google is doing this because JavaScript is the primary tool it uses to carry out risk assessments on users trying to log in to its services. If JavaScript is disabled – something that malicious bots often do for performance reasons – Google can’t carry out those checks. So Google has decided to close this little loophole, even though it will affect about 0.01 percent of its users who apparently prefer not to run JavaScript.

A second new feature is designed to warn users about any malicious applications they may have installed on their Android phones. According to Google, it will now use data from its Google Play Protect security scanner to create a list of any malicious apps, which can be accessed via the Google Security Checkup menu.

Third, Google will now warn users whenever they’re about to share data related to their accounts to third-party websites and applications.

“We already notify you when you’ve granted access to sensitive information — like Gmail data or your Google Contacts — to third-party sites or apps, and in the next few weeks, we’ll expand this to notify you whenever you share any data from your Google Account,” Skelker said.

This information will also be displayed in the Security Checkup menu, Skelker added.

The last update pertains to accounts that have already been hacked. Basically, Google is changing its procedure for regaining access to an account that has had its credentials stolen. The company offered this GIF to illustrate the new recovery process:

“As threats in cybersecurity are constantly evolving, it’s key for vendors to keep upgrading tools for enterprises to fight them,” said Holger Mueller, principal analyst at Constellation Research Inc.

Images: Google