Google has announced that it’s expanding its Advanced Protection Program to cover Apple’s native applications on iOS devices.
The internet giant first announced the security-focused program back in October. It is designed for individual Google accounts that may be more susceptible to being compromised via tactics such as phishing scams or through sharing access to Google data with malicious third-party applications.
The program focuses on three key security conduits — it provides phishing protection by requiring a physical security key to access your Google account via two-factor authentication (2FA), limits access to Gmail and Google Drive to other Google apps, and requires extra verification steps to reduce the chances of someone gaining access to your account through impersonation.
To be clear, this level of security isn’t pegged at the general Google user base — it’s targeted squarely at those most at risk of attack, such as journalists, activists, or political campaigners. And, crucially, it’s only available for personal Google accounts, rather than those on G Suite.
Forbidden fruit
However, the bottom line is that not everyone uses Google’s apps exclusively, and Apple’s ecosystem figures prominently in many users’ digital lives. This is why Google is expanding the scope of its Advanced Protection Program to cover Apple Mail, Calendar, and Contacts. Now iPhone and iPad users enrolled in Advanced Protection will be able to forward a message from Gmail to Apple Mail, for example, or synchronize Google Calendar events with Apple’s Calendar application.
“When you sign…
