Opening a potentially dangerous file? Google Apps warn you

If you want to open a file in a Google app that is potentially dangerous, you will receive a warning from Google in the future. Google created this capability because of the high level of cybercrime.

Warnings from Google

It’s not a new feature from Google, as the same alert mechanism was introduced in Google Drive in January. Google saw that more and more erroneous files appeared on Google Docs and Google Sheets, after which it decided to take action by issuing a warning message. It doesn’t necessarily mean that a file is out of order, but it is possible.

If you now want to open a file in Google Docs, Sheets or Slides (Documents, Spreadsheets or Slides) that is potentially dangerous, you will see a yellow warning at the top of your screen. The text is in English: “This file looks suspicious. It might be used to steal your personal information.” In Dutch this is freely translated: “This file seems suspicious. It could potentially be used to steal your personal information.”

Cybercrime on Google Docs

After all, you don’t always use Google Drive to open files. Sometimes you click on a direct link within, for example, Gmail or you go directly to the Google App itself (think of docs.google.com or slides.google.com). In those cases, Google also wants to protect you, or at least warn you, about files that probably don’t have your best interests at heart.

This new feature is currently only available to those with a Google Workspace account, G Suite Basic, and Google Business. In addition, it will still take about two weeks before the option is fully operational. There are also no administrator options associated with it: it is purely a way to remind you to be careful: an extra service from the search engine giant.