Google is rolling out new account recovery options for Gmail users who can't access their email.

Google reports that attacks targeting its applications, including Gmail, have increased by 84% in the past year. The primary threat to Google app users involves password-stealing emails. Account Recovery is designed to address this, but Google acknowledges its limitations in restoring access to locked Gmail accounts. Claire Forszt and Sriram Karra, from Google’s Identity and Engagement team, have expressed concerns regarding the use of Account Recovery for regaining access to locked Gmail accounts.

Forszt and Karra stated that recovering a locked Gmail account, even with a one-time SMS code, "can be hard if you lost your phone or haven’t updated your recovery phone number." To improve this, Google introduced a new Recovery Contacts feature, enabling Gmail users to select family, friends, or trusted contacts to help them regain access to their accounts. According to Forszt and Karra, this provides "a simple, secure way to turn to people you trust when other recovery options aren’t available."

Users should set up Recovery Contacts before losing account access. To do this, navigate to myaccount.google.com/security in a browser, and go to the Security tab. Find the Recovery contacts box on the left side. After verifying your identity, you can add up to 10 trusted individuals as Recovery contacts, who can assist in regaining access to Gmail or other Google apps.

Google has also launched a feature for Android users to verify their identity and restore Gmail access using only their mobile number. The Sign in with Mobile Number feature allows users to enter their phone number to display associated accounts. Selecting the desired account and entering the lock screen passcode grants access without requiring a password.

According to Eugene Liderman, Google's director of Android security and privacy, this feature is being rolled out gradually worldwide.

Additionally, Google will release "Iconic Phones: Revolution at Your Fingertips" in a few months, a coffee table book about the technological revolution of the 21st century.

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