What is Gmail's ‘RETVec' and how will it thwart scams, phishing?

In a significant move to enhance Gmail security, Google has introduced a game-changing feature called "Resilient & Efficient Text Vectorizer (RETVec)," heralded as one of the most substantial defence upgrades in recent years. 

The update addresses longstanding issues with phishing attacks, inappropriate content, and scams that have plagued Gmail users.

The RETVec technology, developed by Google's ingenious engineers in California, marks a remarkable 38% improvement in filtering unwanted material, reducing false positive messages by 19.4%. 

Google emphasised the efficiency of RETVec in battling security threats, showcasing its prowess in overcoming challenges posed by homoglyphs, invisible characters, and keyword stuffing.

This innovative enhancement is poised to fortify Gmail against cybercriminals who continually evolve their tactics to bypass security measures. 

With RETVec, Google aims to make text classifiers more robust and efficient, providing Gmail users worldwide with a significant reduction in junk emails and a heightened defence against messages seeking sensitive information.

The internal deployment of this update ensures that Gmail users will experience these benefits seamlessly, without any manual intervention. This development follows closely on the heels of Google's urgent call for users to update Google Chrome promptly, addressing a zero-day vulnerability cybercriminals exploit.