Over the past few years, some malicious actors have leveraged Google Drive sharing to target people with spam-filled documents. Google now has a solution to that form of spam with user blocking in Drive.
Update 7/22: After being announced in May, Google is now officially rolling out the ability to block people in Drive. A right-click on a shared file will reveal the new option as the second to last menu item from the bottom and include the email address.
It’s available to all Google Workspace customers and personal Google Accounts. It begins rolling out today and will be fully available in the coming weeks.
Drive’s sharing capabilities fuel productivity and collaboration, but bad actors can abuse tools that are meant to facilitate helpful sharing. That’s why it’s important to have the necessary security controls in place to fend off these sharing threats.
Original 5/18: When you block a spam account in Google Drive from the right-click menu (on the web), three things occur:
- Block another user from sharing any content with you in the future. This can be a useful control if, for example, another user has a history of sending spam or abusive content.
- Remove all existing files and folders shared by another user. This is an easy way to get rid of all spam or abusive content shared from a specific user at one time.
- Remove another person’s access to your content, even if you’ve previously shared it with them.
Google will confirm that “this person will no longer be able to interact with you in Google Drive and certain other Google products.”
The ability to block nefarious users that know your email address and other spam accounts in Google Drive will be rolling out over the coming months.
More about Google Drive:
- Google adding new and updating current Drive search operators
- Drive for Android getting a more prominent notifications feed
- ‘Google Drive for desktop’ replacing Backup and Sync in 2021, add Google Photos upload
Author: Abner Li
Source: 9TO5Google
