When Google launched its Advanced Protection Program in October, it came with a big warning. The system was designed to avoid specific account attacks, basically, any way a sophisticated hacker could try to steal the data in his Google account, but blocking the account meant cutting out all third-party applications, including native iOS apps like Apple Mail. Contacts and Calendar.
Six months later, Google has discovered a way to make it work. In a publication today, Dario Salice of Google announced that Advanced Protection will now support native iOS applications as part of a broader effort to bring more non-Google applications to the system. Advanced Protection users connecting to Apple Mail, Contacts or Calendar will still have to navigate through a more complex login process, but once they are linked, applications should work normally. Salice says that Google will continue to expand the list of trusted applications that work with Advanced Protection.
Much of the Advanced Protection security benefit comes from forcing users to more secure login methods, usually a two-factor login using a security hardware. Key. But the system also severely limits the way third parties can connect to a user's account, since those authorized applications can often lead to account acquisitions. Google users can sign up for advanced protection here.