Google Docs wants to help you spot when you’re being phished

Spotting potential security threats such as phishing scams on Google Workspace should soon be a lot easier thanks to a new update to the software suite.

Google has revealed it is releasing an upgrade to its online collaboration platform that will provide more information on who is tagging you in comments or questions.

This means that whenever you are mentioned in a comment on a Google Docs document, Sheets spreadsheet or Slides slideshow, it should be easier to spot that the notification is legitimate.

Workspace email alerts

Previously, only the name of the commenter was included in email alerts sent to a user after they had been mentioned in a comment. Google says that in order to provide more security and insight, it will now also include the commenter's email address, showing they are a legitimate user.

Google Workspace comment email

(Image credit: Google)

“We hope that by providing this additional information, this will help you feel more confident that you’re receiving a legitimate notification rather than a spam or phishing attempt by a bad actor,” the company noted in a blog post announcing the news.

The feature is rolling out now, and is available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers, and users with personal Google accounts.

The move is the latest addition from Google Workspace to improve security for its users. The company added end-to-end encryption to the platform back in June 2021 in what was a slightly late move, but one that added a significant protection boost for its entire software collection.

This launch also saw Google enabling businesses to set up their own in-house key service, enabling them to take charge of their encryption keys.

The company is also looking to draw in more new users with the launch of Workspace Migrate, which offers an easier way for admins to assess and plan migration projects to its platform.

This includes looking to move a large amount of enterprise data, such as that from Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft OneDrive, file shares, and Box migrations.

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Zoom will soon make it obvious if you’re late to your next big meeting

Zoom is rolling out a number of new updates for its video conferencing software and one of them might finally encourage users to ensure they're on time for their next big meeting.

According to a new blog post from the company, Attendance Status makes it easier for organizations to streamline the start of their Zoom Meetings by allowing meeting hosts and co-hosts using its Google Calendar or Outlook Calendar integrations to view who has accepted or declined a meeting invite.

However, this new feature also gives them the ability to see whether everyone invited to a meeting has joined. If you're used to arriving earlier for video calls, you should be fine but for those that try to slink in unnoticed later on in a meeting, your boss or manager will now be aware of your absence, so tread carefully.

You'll also no longer be able to use the excuse that you had to update your Zoom client as Zoom recently added a new automatic update feature for Windows and macOS that ensures everyone in a meeting is running the latest version of the company's software.

Slides, polling and watermarks

In addition to its new Attendance Status feature, Zoom is also rolling out other new features to help hosts engage with their attendees and get the most out of their recorded content.

As a presenter isn't always the one controlling a slide show, Zoom users can now select multiple people to control the movements of slides in a presentation. This means that presenters will no longer have to ask another attendee to move their presentation forward.

When it comes to getting feedback and insights from team members during meetings, Zoom has added more options for creating polls including ranked responses, matching, short and long answers and even fill in the blank. At the same time though, this feature can also be used for quizzes to create more effective experiences for students, onboarding sessions or other events.

Finally, Zoom is adding additional watermark settings to its software to help organizations and individuals get the most out of their recorded content and avoid distracting watermarks. Users can now set the size and placement of watermarks as well as enable them by default and customize them via the web portal prior to starting a meeting.

Looking to improve your video calls? Check out our roundups of the best video conferencing softwarebest business webcams and best headsets for conference calls

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