Tag Archives: Gmail

Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Gmail Gets New Quick Menu Setting In Update

Google recently announced a change to Gmail that will make it easier for the service’s 2 billion+ users to experiment with different themes, layouts and settings.

Even better, users can see the results of their changes before actually applying them.

To make use of the new feature, all you have to do is click the gear icon on your Gmail screen.

This displays the settings menu, which allows you to select and view different display options, inbox types and interfaces. The changes are shown alongside your current inbox, giving you a simple way to compare and contrast. Just find one you like and once you’re happy, apply the change.

The company started rolling out the new “Quick Menu” option for G Suite and consumer uses on Tuesday, but if you don’t see it at present, give it a few days. With more than two billion users, it’s going to take several days for Google to complete the rollout.

Google had this to say about the recent change:

“We’re making these options easier to find, and letting you explore them in real time, so your actual inbox will update immediately to show you exactly what the setting will do. We hope this makes it easier to set up Gmail the way that works best for you.”

It’s a small point, but it’s worth mentioning that the new menu option is enabled for all users by default, and there is no admin control option for it.

In any case, it’s well worth experimenting with as you may find a layout that allows you to work more efficiently. Honestly, we love the new feature and we think you will too. Give the various options available a try, and kudos to Google for continuing to improve the user experience.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Emails Saying Your Antivirus Is Expired Are Likely A Scam

A great many companies selling antivirus software have affiliate programs that help them expand their reach. Each time an affiliate sells a copy of the software, they get a cut.

It’s a good business model used in a wide range of industries, and antivirus software companies have strict rules governing how their affiliates can market.

Unfortunately, not everyone plays by the rules. Recently, BleepingComputer sounded the alarm after being made aware of a scammy email campaign that uses deceptive marketing to try and convince people to buy their product.

The emails claim that the recipient’s antivirus software is out of date, and provides convenient links allowing them to renew. The problem is, their software isn’t out of date at all. It’s a lie, designed to frighten people who aren’t necessarily tech savvy into spending money they don’t need to spend, all in the name of lining someone’s pocket.

All scams take advantage of a few basic realities of modern life: Many people are too busy to check themselves to see exactly when their antivirus software expires. Many more simply don’t know how. In both cases, an email recipient is likely to just sigh, pull out his or her credit card and spend a few bucks to keep the machine they’re on protected.

It’s easy to understand why the scam works, but that makes it no less despicable.

If you know anyone who isn’t especially computer savvy and you feel they might fall victim to a scam like this, here is what to do. Gently remind them that whatever antivirus software they’re using, the software itself will remind them when it’s about to expire. There is no email needed, and before they spend any money, it’s better to do some checking to verify that their expiration date is approaching. If they don’t know how to check, they almost certainly know someone who does.

We may not be able to keep these scammers from ripping people off, but we can certainly put a dent in their profits, and that’s a very good thing.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Gmail Blocks Millions Of COVID-19 Phishing Emails Daily

Google’s popular Gmail service has been busy. In a typical day, the company’s email system blocks more than a hundred million phishing emails.

During the last week alone, the company reports that their system saw a massive spike in phishing emails related to COVID-19, with more than 18 million such messages being blocked in just the last seven days.

As staggering as that number is, that’s in addition to the more than 240 million COVID-related spam messages that Gmail blocks on a daily basis. As good as Google’s system is, the company reports that it’s not bullet proof. Unfortunately, some of the messages wind up slipping through and landing in users’ inboxes.

According to a recent blog post on the matter, here are just some of the ways that hackers, scammers and spammers have attempted to take advantage of the fear and confusion surrounding the pandemic:

  • Impersonating authoritative government organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO) to solicit fraudulent donations or to distribute malware.
  • Phishing employees operating in work-from-home settings
  • Capitalizing on government stimulus packages and imitating governmental institutions to phish small businesses.
  • Targeting organizations impacted by stay-at-home orders.

Google had this to say about the surge in such emails:

“We have put proactive monitoring in place for COVID-19 related malware and phishing across our systems and workflows. In many cases, these threats are not new – rather, they’re existing malware campaigns that have simply been updated to exploit the heightened attention on COVID-19.

As soon as we identify a threat, we add it to the Safe Browsing API, which protects users in Chrome, Gmail and all other integrated products. Safe Browsing helps protect over four billion devices every day by showing warnings to users when they attempt to navigate to dangerous sites or download dangerous files.”

No system is perfect, of course, but Google is clearly on the right track. Kudos to the Google team for keeping a watchful eye.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Google Docs Gets Smarter With Smart Compose Feature

Google continues to increase the versatility and usefulness of the G-Suite. This time they are adding the much anticipated Smart Compose feature to Google Docs, and it is now available to all G-Suite users.

The new feature launched in beta in November of 2019 and was well-received. The technology relied on Google’s extensive AI expertise to help users draft documents and write better emails with less effort.

In addition to suggesting simple spelling corrections, the AI routine used can read and understand the current sentence you’re composing. It can work in the context of the paragraph it’s in (or the one above it) to deliver real time suggestions on how best to complete the sentence.

If you decide you want to accept the suggestion, simply press the tab key and it will be auto inserted into the document you’re creating at the current cursor position. If you decide you don’t want to accept Google’s suggestion, just keep typing and you can complete the sentence as you like.

The feature proved to be incredibly popular and has since been moved out of beta. As mentioned, it is now available for all G-Suite users. Unfortunately, if you just have an individual G-mail account and use Google Docs, you won’t be able to access it. You’ll need to wade more fully into Google’s ecosystem and embrace the G-Suite to gain access.

Most people will probably find the new feature of value. However, if it cramps your style, you can disable it by going to tools, then to preferences from the top line menu, and un-checking the “Show Smart Compose Suggestions” box.

In tandem with this, Google has also rolled out some changes to Gmail which makes use of the same AI routines, albeit in a slightly different form. When you’re composing an email, the new routine will auto correct words as you type and highlight potentially problematic words using a gray dashed underline. You can make use of the undo feature to revert any correction you like.

These are excellent feature additions and we think you’ll be thrilled with their inclusion.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

New Gmail Attachment Feature Makes Forwarding Easier

Google has a solid reputation when it comes to making a steady stream of improvements to its large and growing base of products and services.  They have a demonstrated a track record when it comes to enhancing user experience. Recently, they’ve proved that once again by adding a new feature to Gmail that allows you to forward one or more emails you’ve received as attachments.

This enhancement allows the recipients of your forwarded message to open the attached email and view it in its original form with its headers intact.  While it’s useful for individual Gmail users, it’s incredibly useful to security professionals, network admins and server admins who often need to examine email headers.

There are two different ways you can use the new feature.  First, create a new blank email message and drag and drop one or more emails into the message you’re composing.  Second, you can select the emails you want to forward, click on the hamburger menu running across the top of your inbox and select “Forward as attachment.”

Whichever method you choose, the emails you attach will be sent as an EML file, which is supported by most of the email clients in use today. Even better, there’s no upper limit to the number of emails you can send as attachments.

On the receiving end, when you receive an attached EML message, clicking on it will open it in a new window.

Note that the new feature is currently rolling out and is not available universally at this point.  You’ll know when you have the functionality when you click on the three-dot More menu and see a new option: “Forward as attachment.”

Even if you don’t personally have much cause to use this new feature, it’s big news and will be a huge boon to admins.  Kudos to Google for the addition.

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