Google on Wednesday took to its annual developer conference to
announce a host of privacy and security updates, including support
for virtual credit cards on Android and Chrome.
“When you use autofill to enter your payment details at
checkout, virtual cards will add an additional layer of security by
replacing your actual card number with a distinct, virtual number,”
Google’s Jen Fitzpatrick said[1]
in a statement.
The goal, the search giant, said to keep payment information
safe and secure during online shopping and protect users from
skimming attacks[2]
wherein threat actors inject malicious JavaScript code to plunder
credit card numbers and sell them on the black market.
The feature is expected to roll out in the U.S. for Visa,
American Express, Mastercard, and Capital One cards starting this
summer.
Interestingly, while Apple offers an option to mask email
addresses via Hide My Email[3], which enables users to
create unique, random email addresses to use with apps and
websites, it’s yet to offer a similar option for creating virtual
credit cards.
The development comes a week after Google, Apple, and Microsoft
banded together to accelerate support for a common passwordless sign-in
standard[4] that allows “websites
and apps to offer consistent, secure, and easy passwordless
sign-ins to consumers across devices and platforms.”
Additionally, Google said it’s expanding phishing protections[5]
in Google Workspace to Docs, Slides and Sheets, and that it plans
to debut a new “My Ad Center” later this year to give users more
control over personalized ads on YouTube, Search, and Discover
feed.
What’s more, users would be able to request personally
identifiable information such as email, phone number, or home
address to be removed from search results[6] through a new tool that
will be accessible from the Google App.
Also coming is a new Account Safety Status setting that will
“feature a simple yellow alert icon on your profile picture that
will flag actions you should take to secure your account.”
Other key privacy and security features unveiled[7]
at Google I/O 2022 include support for end-to-end encryption for
group conversations in the Messages app for Android and the
availability of on-device encryption for Google Password
Manager.
References
- ^
said
(blog.google) - ^
skimming
attacks (thehackernews.com) - ^
Hide My
Email (thehackernews.com) - ^
common
passwordless sign-in standard
(thehackernews.com) - ^
phishing
protections
(workspaceupdates.googleblog.com) - ^
removed
from search results (blog.google) - ^
unveiled
(blog.google)