--- title: "Phishing: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Google | Phish Protection" description: "Google is great. It offers a lot of useful services for free. And those services are tightly integrated so they work well together." image: "https://phishprotection.com/og/blog/phishing-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-of-google.png" canonical: "https://phishprotection.com/blog/phishing-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-of-google/" --- Quick Answer Google is great. It offers a lot of useful services for free. And those services are tightly integrated so they work well together. Share [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fphishprotection.com%2Fblog%2Fphishing-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-of-google%2F "Share on LinkedIn") [ ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Phishing%3A%20The%20Good%2C%20the%20Bad%20and%20the%20Ugly%20of%20Google&url=https%3A%2F%2Fphishprotection.com%2Fblog%2Fphishing-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-of-google%2F "Share on X/Twitter") [ ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fphishprotection.com%2Fblog%2Fphishing-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-of-google%2F "Share on Facebook") [ ](https://reddit.com/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fphishprotection.com%2Fblog%2Fphishing-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-of-google%2F&title=Phishing%3A%20The%20Good%2C%20the%20Bad%20and%20the%20Ugly%20of%20Google "Share on Reddit") [ ](mailto:?subject=Phishing%3A%20The%20Good%2C%20the%20Bad%20and%20the%20Ugly%20of%20Google&body=Check out this article: https%3A%2F%2Fphishprotection.com%2Fblog%2Fphishing-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-of-google%2F "Share via Email") ![Phish Protection blog post image](https://media.mailhop.org/phishprotection/images/2019/06/office-365-email-protection-2689.jpg) Google is great. It offers a lot of useful services for free. And those services are tightly integrated so they work well together. Google services are also used by a lot of people. According to an article on[ Forbes.com](https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2019/06/11/new-security-warning-issued-for-googles-1-5-billion-gmail-and-calendar-users/#3a35ff565e57), “Google’s Gmail email service is used by upwards of 1.5 billion people. The Google Calendar app, meanwhile, has been downloaded more than a billion times from the Play Store” Now, the tight integration between Google apps is being exploited by hackers to target users with **phishing attacks**. According to the article, “Security researchers working at Kaspersky \[found that\] users of the Gmail service are being targeted primarily through the use of malicious and unsolicited Google Calendar notifications.” The problem is that anyone can use Google Calendar to schedule a meeting with anyone else. Gmail, which is tightly integrated with Google Calendar, receives notification of the invitation. According to[ Kaspersky](https://usa.kaspersky.com/blog/spam-through-google-services/17799/), “Google services often send **email notifications** to Gmail inboxes - and _Google’s antispam module avoids flagging notifications from its own services as spam_.” And therein lies the problem, which threat actors have been quick to jump on. ![Office 365 email protection](https://media.mailhop.org/phishprotection/images/2019/06/office-365-email-protection-2689.jpg) Google doesn’t natively protect Google users from phishing attacks that use Google services to deliver the attack. That’s a problem for about a billion people. And it’s not just limited to Gmail and Google Calendar. Exploits have been found in… - Google Photos, - Google Forms, - Google Drive, - Google Storage and - Google Analytics. Using these non-traditional attack methods is how hackers bypass people’s natural defenses to deliver phishing attacks. And there’s no amount of **awareness training** that’s going to change that. If you use Google services and are worried about phishing attacks, you should look into protecting yourself with cloud-based [phish protection](/) technology that works with all email services, including Gmail. You should look into Phish Protection’s [Advanced Threat Defense](/products/advanced-threat-defense/). It’s fast and affordable. Try it free for 30 days. ## Topics [ Phishing ](/tags/phishing/) ![Brad Slavin](https://media.mailhop.org/phishprotection/images/authors/brad-slavin.jpg) [ Brad Slavin ](/authors/brad-slavin/) General Manager Founder and General Manager of DuoCircle. Product strategy and commercial lead across DuoCircle's 2,000+ customer base. [LinkedIn Profile →](https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradslavin) ## Protect your inbox from phishing attacks Real-time email security with 60-day free trial. No credit card required. [Start Free Trial](https://portal.duocircle.com/cart.php?a=add&pid=101&brand=phishprotection) [View Pricing](/pricing/) ## Related Articles [ Foundational 5m 0ktapus, Okta Breach Helps Attackers Launch Sophisticated Supply Chain Attacks Sep 5, 2022 ](/blog/0ktapus-okta-breach-helps-attackers-launch-sophisticated-supply-chain-attacks/)[ Foundational 4m 13 Spear Phishing Attacks Examples To Justify Investment For Phishing Prevention Solutions In Your Organization Aug 1, 2019 ](/blog/13-spear-phishing-attacks-examples-to-justify-investment-for-phishing-prevention-solutions-in-your-organization/)[ Foundational 4m All 14 centers of Kettering Health were affected by a massive ransomware attack, Major outage in the Ohio medical center May 23, 2025 ](/blog/14-centers-of-kettering-health-were-affected-by-massive-ransomware-attack-in-ohio-medical-center/)[ Foundational 4m 2021 Phishing Trends You Need To Be Wary Of Aug 2, 2021 ](/blog/2021-phishing-trends-to-be-wary-of/) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Organization","name":"Phish Protection","url":"https://phishprotection.com","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://phishprotection.com/images/phishprotection-logo.png"},"description":"Advanced phishing protection and email security for businesses. 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