Technologies

Gmail Hacked? How to Get Your Account Back and Tighten Your Security

Gmail accounts are being compromised in a sophisticated phishing attack. If you lost access to your account, here’s what you can do – and how to be better prepared.

Gmail users are again falling victim to a sophisticated phishing attack that is locking victims out of their accounts. While these sorts of attacks are nothing new, cybercriminals now have AI on their side to help them come up with new ways to trick people into falling for their traps.

Right now, that trickery is taking the form of an email that looks convincingly like it’s from Google, with an urgent call to action regarding a legal matter and a link for more information, according to a report from Forbes published on April 21.

But if you interact with the email, your credentials could be stolen, your password changed and new security measures put in place to keep you from getting back into your account. If you find yourself in this boat — from this phishing attack or another — hope isn’t lost. If you have the proper measures in place and you act quickly, you can regain access.

A Google spokesperson told Forbes that a fix for this particular scenario will soon be deployed.

Read on to find out what to do in case your Gmail account is hacked and you can no longer log in. We’ll also throw in some additional security measures so you can potentially make your account less vulnerable.

For more, don’t miss Android security and privacy features you should know about.

If your Gmail account was compromised, do this

This particular attack isn’t necessarily special, but it does show that cybercriminals are relentless in looking to gain access to user accounts by creating increasingly sophisticated methods of attack. And it is all too easy to fall victim to phishing attacks. Gmail is the most popular email service, so it makes sense for the bad guys to prioritize it. Google even has a quiz to help you spot these types of emails.

If you had your account hacked, regaining access can be tricky. What information and recovery measures were in place will play a factor in your success and in the time it could take to recover your account.

Start by going to https://accounts.google.com/signin/recovery and answer the questions to the best of your ability. If you had any additional emails or phone numbers associated with your account, this information may be able to help you, even if it’s been removed from your account. Google has additional tips that may help you when completing the account recovery module, like making sure you’re completing these steps in a familiar location and with a familiar device.

After some digging, including going through a series of help requests about a compromised account, the writer of the Forbes report was able to receive a callback from Google directly. A key factor here, though, was that it required the Google One Premium subscription that offers additional storage, AI features and other benefits.

Prevention is the best method: How to secure your Gmail account

There’s a reason why you’ll find more support articles from Google that will show you how to prevent bad actors from getting into and wreaking havoc on your Gmail account than you’ll find articles about recovering from a phishing attack. That’s because it’s much easier to prevent a hack than it is to prove you’re the one trying to regain access to your account.

If you’re luckily reading this as a preventive measure to protect your Gmail account, here are things you can and should do to keep your account safe.

One of the easiest ways to increase the security of your account is adding a recovery email and phone number to your account account. Here’s how to do it.

From your computer, head to myaccount.google.com and login to your account
Click on the Security tab on the left side panel
Under the How you sign in to Google section, click Add an email address next to Recovery email. You can add a phone number in this section by clicking 2-Step Verification phone.
Both of these methods will require verification before they’re added to your account.

Additional security measures you should enable

By adding a recovery phone and email to your Google account, you’ll save yourself a lot of time if you need to confirm your identity to regain access to your account, but that’s essentially the bare minimum. There’s still so much more you can do to protect your Google account, which will in turn protect your Gmail account.

True, additional security can come at the expense of convenience. Some of the methods may be slightly less secure but keep your convenience balanced, where others may be much more secure and the convenience dial turned all the way down.

The security focus is primarily going to be enabling two-step verification when you sign into your Google account or any of its apps, like Gmail.

Two-step verification options

There are a handful of ways to add a second layer of security when signing into your Google account. You can enable one or more at a time.

Passkeys — You can save a passkey to your device that can be used instead of logging in with a password. Passkeys, which are secure, FIDO credentials, can be saved with password managers on computers or mobile devices and just need to be verified with biometrics or a PIN.
Security Key — This is probably the most secure but most inconvenient method. It will require you to purchase a physical security key and insert it into the device you’re trying to log into. There are several NFC-enabled security keys available as well.
Two-step verification phone — With this enabled, you’ll be sent a code via text message that you can input into the device you’re signing into. SMS has its own security concerns, though.
Authenticator app — This method requires a one-time setup for your account. Once it’s enabled, you’ll be asked to provide a temporary code from your authenticator app in order to log in.
Google prompt — This method is very convenient. You’ll receive a popup on your phone from Google that you’ll need to tap to confirm it’s you that’s logging into your account on a new device.
Backup codes — This method will generate a series of unique codes that you store in a safe place and can use when you get locked out of your account.

Consider the Google Advanced Protection Program

Google offers an advanced protection program that doubles down on security. The above two-step verification methods will typically be enough for you to skip your login credentials, but the Google Advanced Protection Program requires you to use a passkey or security key and your login credentials to access your account. Google encourages journalists, activists, business executives and people involved in elections to enroll, but it’s a free program that anyone can use.

For more, check out our Cybersecurity hub.

Technologies

Spotify Launches ‘About the Song’ Beta to Reveal Stories Behind the Music

The stories are told on swipeable cards as you listen to the song.

Did you know Chappell Roan drew inspiration for her hit song Pink Pony Club from The Pink Cadillac, the name of a hot-pink strip club in her Missouri hometown? Or that Fountains of Wayne’s song Stacy’s Mom was inspired by a confessed crush a friend had on the late co-founder Adam Schlesinger’s grandmother?

If you’re a fan of knowing juicy little tidbits about popular songs, you might find more trivia in About the Song, a new feature from streaming giant Spotify that’s kind of like the old VH1 show Pop-Up Video.

About the Song is available in the US, UK, New Zealand and Australia, initially for Spotify Premium members only. It’s only on certain songs, but it will likely keep rolling out to more music. Music facts are sourced from a variety of websites and summarized by AI, and appear below the song’s lyrics when you’re playing a particular song.

«Music fans know the feeling: A song stops you in your tracks, and you immediately want to know more. What inspired it, and what’s the meaning behind it? We believe that understanding the craft and context behind a song can deepen your connection to the music you love,» Spotify wrote in a blog post.

While this version of the feature is new, it’s not the first time Spotify has featured fun facts about the music it plays. The streaming giant partnered with Genius a decade ago for Behind the Lyrics, which included themed playlists with factoids and trivia about each song. Spotify kept this up for a few years before canceling due to multiple controversies, including Paramore’s Hayley Williams blasting Genius for using inaccurate and outdated information.

Spotify soon started testing its Storyline feature, which featured fun facts about songs in a limited capacity for some users, but was never released as a central feature.

About the Song is the latest in a long string of announcements from Spotify, including a Page Match feature that lets you seamlessly switch to an audiobook from a physical book, and an AI tool that creates playlists for you. Spotify also recently announced that it’ll start selling physical books.

How to use About the Song

If you’re a Spotify Premium user, the feature should be available the next time you listen to music on the app.

Start listening to any supported song.
Scroll down past the lyrics preview box to the About the Song box.
Swipe left and right to see more facts about the song.

I tried this with a few tracks, and was pleased to learn that it doesn’t just work for the most recent hits. Spotify’s card for Metallica’s 1986 song Master of Puppets notes the song’s surge in popularity after its cameo in a 2022 episode of Stranger Things. The second card discusses the band’s album art for Master of Puppets and how it was conceptualized.

To see how far support for the feature really went, I looked up a few tracks from off the beaten path, like NoFX’s The Decline and Ice Nine Kills’ Thank God It’s Friday. Spotify supported every track I personally checked.

There does appear to be a limit to the depth of the fun facts, which makes sense since not every song has a complicated story. For those songs, Spotify defaults to trivia about the album that features the music or an AI summary of the lyrics and what they might mean.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Feb. 7, #502

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Feb. 7, No. 502.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition features a fun batch of categories. The purple one requires you to find hidden words inside some of the grid words, but they’re not too obscure. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Golden Gate.

Green group hint: It’s «Shotime!»

Blue group hint: Same first name.

Purple group hint: Tweak a team name.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Bay Area teams.

Green group: Associated with Shohei Ohtani.

Blue group: Coaching Mikes.

Purple group: MLB teams, with the last letter changed.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is Bay Area teams. The four answers are 49ers, Giants, Sharks and Valkyries.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is associated with Shohei Ohtani. The four answers are Decoy, Dodgers, Japan and two-way.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is coaching Mikes. The four answers are Macdonald, McCarthy, Tomlin and Vrabel.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is MLB teams, with the last letter changed. The four answers are Angelo (Angels), Cuba (Cubs), redo (Reds) and twine (Twins).

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Saturday, Feb. 7

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Feb. 7

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? It’s Saturday, so it’s a long one, and a few of the clues are tricky. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.