Google has introduced an alert system that warns users it believes may be the subject of state-sponsored attacks.
The US firm says it will bring up a banner highlighting the danger when users are logged into their Google Account.
An attached link will suggest actions to protect their data from being hijacked such as the use of tougher passwords and suggested system updates.
The search company would not reveal exactly what would trigger the alerts.
It only said that it would be based on the belief that a user might have become the target of malware or phishing - requests for some of their personal details from a party pretending to be a trustworthy source.
"You might ask how we know this activity is state-sponsored," wrote Eric Grosse, Google's vice-president of security engineering on its blog.
"We can't go into the details without giving away information that would be helpful to these bad actors, but our detailed analysis - as well as victim reports - strongly suggests the involvement of states or groups that are state-sponsored."
A recent report by Reporters Without Borders flagged up several instances of what it said were state-backed attacks over the previous year.
It said one case involved users in Belarus who had tried to log into a local social network but were redirected by their internet service provider to sites containing malware.
It added that attempts to "phish" for social network usernames and passwords had been reported in Syria and Iran.
Since New York Times recently reported that Stuxnet is a US State Sponsored Cyber virus - which if you recall was accidentally released into the wild and affected and attacked innocent end-user machines as collateral damage, and with the ongoing US-Israeli state sponsored cyber warfare weapons of mass destruction (operation Olympic Games) including the more recent releases of Duqu and Flame virus.... can Google clarify if through its detailed analysis as well as victim reports if Google will apply the same exacting standards and warn end-users (both in the US and abroad, example: Iranian users) of these domestic (US) state sponsored attacks as well? Even if Google was to choose to go the higher route, wouldn't this kind of undermining and subterfuge (however unintentional) really go unnoticed by its host nation? Or are exceptions of convenience made in these cases due to the close ties that Google has with the US intelligence agencies and the confirmed but secret and classified collaboration that the Google has with the CIA and NSA in regards to GMail and Google Accounts? No doubt there is a clear conflict of interest going on here. To me this smells more like Google catering to State Sponsored Propaganda than really caring about the security and privacy of their end-users.
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