Understanding the Gmail Phishing Incident and User Protection Measures

Phishing is not hacking. Users were tricked more than violated ... And other lessons from yesterday's made-up story. "Gmail Hack" was scattered across media headlines yesterday, inciting the rumor that Google's popular email platform had been the victim of a cyber-attack. It wasn't true. Google was not hacked, a company spokesman tells Fast Company. Some users were duped into supplying passwords to fraudulent emails masquerading as trustworthy sources (known as phishing)--a very common occurance.