Google Drive Has a Serious Spam Problem, But Google Says a Fix is Coming

guest · Jan 6, 2019

Google Drive Has a Serious Spam Problem, But Google Says a Fix is Coming
January 4, 2019
https://www.howtogeek.com/400511/go...-spam-problem-and-google-doesnt-seem-to-care/

Google Drive has a pretty bad spam problem, and it seems Google doesn’t care. Spammers can share files that automatically appear in your Drive, and there’s no way to stop it.
Here’s What’s Happening
Google Drive’s sharing system is the problem. Since it doesn’t offer any sharing acceptance, all files and folders shared with your account are automatically available to you in Drive—they just show up. To make matters worse, if you only have “View” permission, you can’t remove yourself from the share. It’s a mess.
Why Is This an Issue?
There are a few scenarios in which this is a pretty big issue. The first, as mentioned earlier, is for spam. Users can (and will) get bombarded with crap they don’t want—all the time.

The second issue may be even more common: when you don’t want to be part of a shared file/folder any longer. Since there’s no way to remove yourself from the share, you’re stuck with it.
To make matters even worse, Google Drive doesn’t offer a block feature. Even if you block someone in Gmail, it doesn’t block them in Drive.
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Update 1/4/19 10:10 AM CTS: Google got back to us with a statement saying that changes are coming to Drive’s sharing features and they’re “making it a priority.”
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guest · Jul 22, 2021

Google Drive's new blocking tool is here to help put an 'end' to spam
At least until the attacker makes a new email address
July 22, 2021
https://www.androidpolice.com/2021/...king-tool-is-here-to-help-put-an-end-to-spam/

It's been more than two years since Google acknowledged Drive spam is a real issue with the service, and we've been patiently waiting for any action to be taken. In May, the company confirmed a solution was on the way, allowing users to block email addresses from sharing content with you in the future. After a couple of months, that fix is finally being made available to Drive users.

The ability to quickly and easily share files and folders on Drive is what makes it one of the best cloud storage utilities online today, but it also attracts all sorts of spam and phishing attempts. Google's solution allows anyone to block another account by right-clicking on a shared file and selecting the "Block" option.
Blocked users cannot share uploaded items with you, and Drive will hide any content previously sent to your account. It goes both ways — if you've previously shared content with your target, they'll no longer have access to those uploads.
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Google says this ability is on a gradual rollout schedule and may take up to 15 days to become widely available. Thankfully, it's coming to every Drive user, including Workspace, G Suite, and personal accounts.
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Google: Block shares from another user in Google Drive

As we recently announced on the Cloud Blog, we’re adding the ability to block another user in Google Drive. If blocked, the user will not be able to share any Drive items with you, and items owned by the user will not be able to be shared with you or be shown when you’re browsing Google Drive. In addition, your files will not be available to the user you’ve blocked, even if you’ve previously shared items with them.
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EASTER · Jul 22, 2021

All those nitwits had to do, and since Windows 98, is set blocks per user's disapproval. For example, what's today? 2021 right? In gmail a button reads Delete Forever from foolish spam junk addresses. The next day and thereafter the garbage is right back again and who wants to spend wasted time clicking away that crap evry time you open Gmail.

I seen stupid before but it's been going on for countless years on end. Amazing how such so called Tech Giants are immature nutcases.

Google Drive is no different than Gmail. Spam happy but Alphabet is so nasty rich why should it bother them the waste of server activity and bandwidth allowing spam to cram their user's using their equipment to do it relentlessly right? That is as long as the electricity stays on.

guest · Jul 26, 2021

Google's solution to fight Google Drive Sharing Spam is inadequate
July 26, 2021
https://www.ghacks.net/2021/07/26/googles-solution-to-fight-google-drive-sharing-spam-is-inadequate/

Google announced a new block user feature for its Google Drive file hosting and synchronization service Google Drive last week that prevents others from sharing files and folders with you.

Sharing is a useful feature, as it enables users and teams to share files with others. You could use a shared folder to work on an Excel spreadsheet together, or a book, or share holiday photos with other family members or friends.
Spammers have abused the share system for a long time. All it took was to get hold of a user's Google email address. Content could then be shared and since there was no way to remove yourself from shared content, you were stuck with the content.
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Blocking users is not enough
You can use the new blocking feature only after files have been shared with you. While that may work in some cases, it is an inadequate solution as it means that Google Drive users will have to do all the heavy lifting.
While you can report spam to Google, nothing is keeping spammers from creating new email addresses and using these to share the same files or others with you again.

The ability to block is an important option nevertheless, as it introduces options to do something against unwanted shares.
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EASTER · Jul 26, 2021

While you can report spam to Google, nothing is keeping spammers from creating new email addresses and using these to share the same files or others with you again.
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Heck, if they can allow that then why won't they set up for example with a whitelist/blacklist for users. There is a way to ignore those newly created spammers unless they know more about the system then the masters who created it. Which seems the case.

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