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

I Tried an Air Purifier Designed to Filter Out Weed and Cigarette Smoke

Just because you celebrate 420 doesn’t mean you want the smell of smoke. A new specialty filter from GermGuardian helps keep things fresh.

In the US and globally, April 20 has become an unofficial holiday for weed smokers. While vaping, gummies and edibles are increasingly popular, a fair number of people still light up for a smoke, and that can result in a lingering odor many find unpleasant.

I’m one of those people, and GermGuardian’s new FLT420B air purifier filter is designed to remove cannabis smoke more effectively than standard air purifier filters.
«As cannabis use becomes more widely accepted, we recognized a real gap in the market for a filter purpose-built to tackle cannabis smoke odors, not just mask them,» said Rukky Ojakovo, senior director of heaters and air quality at Guardian Technologies. «In our two-week in-home test, over 90% of users rated it very effective at reducing cannabis odor.»

I’ve been using the FLT420B filter in my home with a GermGuardian AC4880B air purifier for several weeks now, and I’ve been impressed with just how effectively it tackles smoke odors. In my case, the odor is more from cigarette smoke than marijuana (I had the misfortune of indoor smokers moving into the unit below me). The FLT420B filter has been effective at tackling the smell.

«While the FLT420B was engineered specifically for cannabis smoke, its advanced odor-control media targets VOCs [volatile organic compounds] broadly, making it effective against other herbal smoke as well,» Ojakovo told me over email.

According to GermGuardian, the filter is 300 times more effective than standard HEPA smoke filters and targets odor-causing VOCs at the «molecular» level. The company says it can remove cannabis odor within 90 minutes. Though I’m not a marijuana smoker myself — I’m very sensitive to bad odors, and I have two asthmatic cats — I’m planning on testing this soon by using cannabis-scented incense sticks.

In the meantime, to test this, I placed the entire AC4880B air purifier unit, with the smoke filter installed, in a closet in my wife’s office and shut the door. Using the UV-C sanitizing light, which can generate a small amount of safe ozone, the entire closet was effectively deodorized in about 24 hours.

I asked Ojakovo what played the largest role in clearing the odor from the closet. The filter was the primary driver.

«The FLT420B’s advanced odor-control media is specifically designed to capture VOCs and lingering odors like cigarette smoke,» Ojakovo said. «The UV-C light is great for reducing airborne bacteria, germs, and mold spores, but is less targeted toward chemical-based smoke odors specifically.»

Interestingly, even after I pulled it out of the closet, the air inside has stayed deodorized, though sealing gaps and cracks likely helped.

To further test how well the filter cleared smells, I moved the GermGuardian unit to my galley kitchen and placed it by my trash cans. There’s not much ventilation in there, and I have a gas range, so there are plenty of VOCs. I’ve left it there for over a week now, and since then, I’ve noticed a distinct reduction in stale cooking smells and a general improvement in air quality, verified by an air quality monitor.

«Since the FLT420B is designed to tackle VOCs, it can certainly help with cooking-related odors and gases,» said Ojakovo, while also pointing out that the company sells filters designed for kitchen use specifically. «For heavier kitchen use near a gas range, we’d recommend exploring our broader lineup of filters, designed for specific use cases.»

Now, if you suffer from allergies, you may want to consider a different air purifier model, but for VOCs, it’s been one of the more effective ones I’ve used.

Price and availability

The FLT420B will work with GermGuardian’s most widely used air purifiers, including the AC4880, AC4825E, AC4300, AC4825, AC4870, AC4820, AC4900, AC4850PT, CDAP4500 and AP2200CA. If you own one of those models, it’s simply a matter of purchasing the FLT420B filter from Amazon (currently out of stock) or directly from Guardian Technologies for $40.

If you’re a new customer, you can buy the model with the features you prefer and pair it with a filter that suits your use case.

Editor’s note: While cannabis has been legalized for medical and even recreational use in some states, marijuana and products containing THC are still a Schedule I drug under US federal law. Always exercise caution and judgment when consuming cannabis or any other controlled substance.

Technologies

‘Han Solo Wants to Be Me’: Artemis II’s Victor Glover on Flying the Orion

CNET spoke with the Artemis II astronaut and pilot about seeing parts of the moon that no other human has seen before and getting to manually fly a spacecraft.

Even if you’re 250,000 miles from Earth, sleep is important. However, for all the life-sustaining accoutrements aboard the Orion spacecraft, the capsule lacked bedrooms, leaving the four-person Artemis II crew with a truly bizarre sleeping arrangement.

«I slept really close to an air conditioning vent. And so I’d wake up and I just see this big hunk of metal,» Glover told CNET during a video call. «And it was like, ‘Oh, I’m in space. I am weightless.'»

Sleep wasn’t just a means for the astronauts to recharge; it also grounded them during their historic journey. Glover explained, «What really resonated with me is we’re also humans. It’s like camping, and this is a very important part of this journey.»

Artemis II was the first crewed mission to the moon in over 50 years. It followed Artemis I, a 2022 uncrewed mission that was the first for NASA’s new Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft. The goal for Artemis II was to have a crew test the spacecraft, life support systems, the SLS rocket and the procedures needed for future lunar missions that will involve landing on the moon and eventually building a base there.

Glover, the Orion’s pilot, along with commander Reid Wiseman and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen, made up the Artemis II crew. The mission made a lot of history. It’s the first time a woman, a Black man or a Canadian has journeyed to the moon. The four Artemis II astronauts traveled 252,756 miles from Earth, farther than any other human being, surpassing the record set by the 1970 Apollo 13 mission.

This wasn’t Glover’s first time in space. In 2020, with a Falcon 9 rocket for liftoff, he piloted the Crew Dragon capsule to and from the International Space Station for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission, spending over 167 days in space. But Artemis II gave Glover the opportunity to be the first to fly the Orion, a new vehicle designed for Artemis missions. For the majority of the nearly 10-day journey, Orion was on autopilot. But Glover had several opportunities to take manual control of the spacecraft to test its handling.

«It was such a treat and a joy,» Glover said about flying the Orion. «It was a test pilot’s dream to fly a new spaceship for the first time by hand.»

Even after spending time training to fly in a simulator back on Earth, he was surprised by how responsive the Orion’s hand controller was and by the clarity of the cameras, used to maneuver the craft around the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage that holds the fuel for the upper stage of liftoff. He said the view from the cameras and monitors was like «looking out a window.»

When I asked Glover if he felt like Han Solo when piloting the Orion, he retorted, «Han Solo wants to be me when he grows up!» Throughout my interview, Glover was gracious, passionate and funny.

«I get to do stuff that’s cooler than Han Solo. I mean, just the fact that it’s real, it’s better.»

While landing on the moon wasn’t in the cards for this trip, the Orion crew traveled about 4,000 miles beyond the moon, allowing them to see parts of the moon that had never been seen before. For comparison, Apollo missions flew about 70 miles above the moon to make landings, limiting how much of it they could actually see.

The images that Glover and the crew took of the moon were stunning. Shots like the Earthset were a reminder of how beautiful our planet is and our place within the solar system. The astronauts even witnessed a total solar eclipse as they rounded the far side of the moon. But none of the photos they took compares to what they saw, according to Glover.

«I could see the curvature of the moon. Depth is just one aspect that you cannot see in the pictures. But here’s the other thing, the pictures lack scale.»

For the lunar flyby, the Orion was moving fast: 60,863 mph relative to Earth, but only 3,139 mph relative to the moon, according to NASA. The speed meant the shadows across the surface were constantly morphing into different shapes. Glover was particularly enamored with the moon’s terminator, where the light and dark sides of the moon meet. The terminator isn’t fixed and depends on the moon’s position relative to the sun. As Orion moved, it transformed into various shapes that looked like letters of the alphabet.

«People know, I fell in love with the terminator when I got to see the real one up close. I watched the terminator go from a letter C to a letter D, which means there was a point when the moon was half light, half dark. It was pointing right at me.»

Artemis II’s lunar flyby was a highlight of the journey for many of us on Earth, in part because we could watch it in real time on streaming services like Netflix. Nearly the entire mission was streamed live on NASA’s website and YouTube channel, making it feel like a reality show. One minute you’re watching the crew eat, work out, take photos of the moon; the next, there’s a random jar of Nutella floating by one of the cameras. I asked Glover whether it felt like he was on a TV show while on the Orion.

«It did not feel like a reality show on my end,» said Glover. «For you to see the science and hear us describing the moon, and to see us flying the spaceship by hand, and to see bedtime and bath time and teeth brush time, that’s what it’s like. The mission was all of those things.»

Glover was ecstatic to hear how I and others felt so connected to the crew during their mission. He said it was important to NASA to let the world in on everything it took to send four people a quarter of a million miles away.

«I think that maybe one of the really, most special things about this mission is how much you were able to see,» Glover said with a smile. «It makes me feel good that you felt like you were there.»