Google is offering users 2 GB of extra storage as part of Safer Internet Day.
By Dileep Thekkethil
Search engine giant Google is taking the online security of its Indian users more seriously as the company reportedly rolled out a few security updates and features aimed at protecting the users online.
On Wednesday, Google India released the list of top trending searches of last year that throws light on some of the interesting security search trends in India. This has provided an insight to the need for better cyber security in the country.
According to the latest security trends, in the year 2015, there has been more than 20% increase in the search for the keyword “change password†and a whopping 97% increase in the search for the term “two-step-verificationâ€.
Two-step verification is a security option made available by Google to link the phone number of the users to their Google account. Each time a user tries to log in to the account through a new device, Google will send a six-digit code to the phone number.
Even if a user types in the correct username and password, Google will redirect him to a new page where he will have to enter the verification code sent to the registered phone number.
Google said that in the past year, there has been 591% increase in the number of searches made for the keyword “how to track a lost phone”.
To strengthen the online security of the users in India, Google is rolling out features with simplified security settings to making trustworthy messages easier to spot in Gmail. The company is also planning for an extensive campaign to sensitize the Indian internet users about the importance of online security.
“With an increase in the number of users coming online and the rise in the penetration of smartphone users in India, we at Google are committed to offering users a safe Internet experience,” Sunita Mohanty, director, trust and safety, Google India said in a statement.
“We are adding five million new users a month taking the user base of connected’ Indians to 500 million online by 2018-2019. It’s more important now than ever before to ensure the data and profiles of these users are safe online,” Mohanty added.
Google is currently running a campaign for Safer Internet Day is also offering users 2 GB of extra storage in Google Drive for users who successfully completes the security check-up by February 11.