Google LLC is adding more security features to Gmail and its G Suite productivity tools as part of its efforts to help remote workers stay secure and productive.

The updates, announced today at the Google Cloud Next OnAir online conference that runs through Sept. 8, include support for a new Brand Indicators for Message Identification standard within Gmail. It’s aimed at helping email recipients to know that the message they’re receiving is an authentic one.

In a blog post, Karthik Lakshminarayanan, director of product management at G Suite Security & Controls, and Neil Kumaran, a product manager at Gmail Security, said BIMI enables organization to validate ownership of their corporate logos and securely transmit these to Google, so they can be displayed in an email sender’s avatar slot. The idea is to help organizations create more trust in their brand, they said.

“BIMI provides benefits to the whole email ecosystem,” Lakshminarayanan and Kumaran wrote. “By requiring strong authentication, users and email security systems will have increased confidence in the source of emails, and senders will be able to leverage their brand trust and provide their customers with a more immersive experience.”

Google said it’s rolling out BIMI support in the coming weeks for a limited number of senders as part of a pilot program and intends to make it more widely available in the coming months.

In addition, Google is adding various security updates to its collaboration tools, Google Meet and Google Chat.

Google Meet is a videoconferencing platform similar to Zoom or Skype that allows multiple people to join the same meeting wherever they’re located. It’s aimed at businesses and other organizations, and like other collaborative platforms of its kind, has enjoyed a surge in popularity thanks to the coronavirus pandemic that has forced millions of people to work from home.

The updates to Google Meet are designed to help ensure that only intended participants can access specific video meetings, and include increased controls over who has the ability to “knock” and join a meeting, Google said.

“Enhanced meeting knocking builds on existing controls that require those not included on a meeting’s calendar invite to explicitly knock and ask to be admitted to a meeting,” Lakshminarayanan and Kumaran said.

The new controls also mean that once someone has been kicked from a meeting, they won’t be able to rejoin it unless invited to do so by the meeting host. In addition, should users be denied access to a meeting multiple times, they will automatically be blocked from sending further requests to join.

There are also new “safety locks” being added to Meet that can help to protect access to meetings. For example, hosts can now decide which methods of joining a meeting, such as by phone or calendar invite, require explicit approval prior to joining. Safety locks also prevents anonymous users – those not using a Google account – from joining a meeting, while also enforcing a requirement that the host must join first before any other participants. There are other locks that allow hosts to control which participants are able to chat or present within the meeting.

“These features add to the protections we’ve already put in place to prevent brute-force attacks; so even if an attacker guesses the meeting code, they wouldn’t be able to enter the meeting without the host’s permission,” Lakshminarayanan and Kumaran said. “Even if the host mistakenly admits the attacker, the chat and present locks would help prevent the meetings from getting disrupted.”

The new security controls for Google Meet will be made available in the “coming weeks,” Google said.

As for Google Chat, a messaging application that’s similar to Slack, the additional protections here include a new anti-phishing tool available now that checks any link that is sent against real-time data from Google’s Safe Browsing service. Any links that appear to be malicious will automatically be flagged, Google said.

Users will also get the ability to report and block publicly accessible Chat Rooms if they suspect any malicious activity within one, Google said. This feature will also be made available in the coming weeks.

Finally, there are some new security features being made available to G Suite admins that are available now in beta test mode for G Suite Enterprise, G Suite Enterprise Essentials and G Suite Enterprise for Education users. They include a redesigned devices page within the G Suite admin console that enables more intuitive navigation and the ability to display quickly the number of devices managed by each service, Lakshminarayanan and Kumaran said.

G Suite is also being integrated with Apple Business Manager, which enables admins to simply and securely distribute and manage Apple iOS devices within their organizations.

Finally, Lakshminarayanan and Kumaran said Google is enhancing its Data Loss Prevention feature that helps to protect against unauthorized access to G Suite data.

“Admins can now use automated information rights management (IRM) controls to prevent data exfiltration by blocking end users from downloading, printing, or copying Google Drive docs, sheets, and slides that contain sensitive content,” Lakshminarayanan and Kumaran said. “These controls tie in with the Data Loss Prevention rules that have been set for the organization, and admins can run a full scan of all files within Google Drive and automatically enable these controls for all users.”

Images: Google