Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options. HOMEPAGE

Google security chief says 'I delete all the love letters from my husband' because of hackers

This is the saddest — and also the most sensible — piece of IT security advice you will ever hear: Heather Adkins, director of information privacy and security at Google, who built Google's security team over the last 10 years, told a conference on Monday, "I delete all the love letters from my husband because I never want anyone to see them," according to The Financial Times.

heather adkins google alphabet
Heather Adkins Screengrab from Techcrunch

Personal information should never be put into emails, she said.

By email, she means Gmail, of course.

She didn't say that because she is personally worried about the security surrounding the Alphabet email product. Rather, her message is that hackers are so ubiquitous, and their threat so serious, that everyone is under permanent threat of having their personal information stolen or exposed, she told Techcrunch Disrupt:

“At some point in the history of your company, you’re probably going to get hacked. The question is not whether or not you’re going to get hacked, but are you ready?” Adkins said. “Are you going to be able to very quickly make decisions about what to do next?”

Advertisement

When asked if Gmail could be hacked, she said, "It could happen to anybody. You can see it happening everywhere," but ... "I think we're ready."

Advertisement

On February 28, Axel Springer, Business Insider's parent company, joined 31 other media groups and filed a $2.3 billion suit against Google in Dutch court, alleging losses suffered due to the company's advertising practices.

Gmail Google Alphabet
Advertisement
Close icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. It indicates a way to close an interaction, or dismiss a notification.

Jump to

  1. Main content
  2. Search
  3. Account