Google’s Gmail Update Puts Millions of Accounts at Risk
▼ Summary
– Google is ending support for fetching emails from third-party accounts using POP3, which will disrupt many older, legacy email setups.
– The Gmailify feature, which provided Gmail’s spam protection and organization to Yahoo, AOL, and Outlook/Hotmail accounts, will be discontinued starting January 2026.
– Users of affected third-party accounts are advised to change their settings to forward emails to Gmail to maintain some level of filtering.
– A recent, widespread technical issue in Gmail caused misclassified spam, inbox flooding, and warnings that emails weren’t fully scanned, though Google reports it is now largely resolved.
– These changes and issues mean millions of emails could soon arrive in Gmail inboxes without spam filtering, potentially increasing security risks for users.
A significant shift in how Gmail manages third-party email accounts is quietly unfolding, potentially exposing millions of users to a surge in spam and phishing attempts. While much of the public focus remains on artificial intelligence and interface changes, two critical backend updates are dismantling long-standing protections for older email services linked to Gmail. Users who rely on these integrations must take immediate steps to secure their inboxes.
The first major change involves the discontinuation of POP3 email fetching within Gmail. This feature, which many have used for years to pull messages from older, non-Google accounts into a single Gmail inbox, will no longer be supported. This disruption primarily affects legacy email setups that have operated seamlessly for a long time, forcing users to find alternative methods to consolidate their email.
Perhaps more concerning is the planned sunset of Gmailify, a powerful but lesser-known feature. Gmailify allowed users with Yahoo, AOL, or Outlook/Hotmail addresses to benefit from Gmail’s robust, AI-driven spam and malware filtering while keeping their original email address. Google has announced this service will end in January 2026. This means the formidable barrier that blocks nearly ten million spam emails every minute will vanish for those connected accounts, leaving inboxes vulnerable.
The risk is substantial. Without these filters, millions of emails from these third-party services will flow directly into Gmail inboxes completely unchecked. Cyber attackers are likely to exploit this new weakness, targeting services known for their historically weaker native defenses. To mitigate this, Google advises users to reconfigure their legacy accounts to forward emails to Gmail, though this workaround may not fully replicate the lost security features.
Compounding the problem, Google recently confirmed a widespread technical failure that accidentally previewed this exact vulnerability. Over a weekend, a system flaw caused Gmail’s automatic filters to malfunction, leading to inboxes flooded with spam and misclassified messages. Some users even encountered banners on emails warning that the messages “haven’t been fully scanned for spam or malware.” While Google states this specific incident is largely resolved, it starkly illustrates the dangers of losing proactive email scanning.
The confluence of these deliberate policy changes and accidental system failures creates a perfect storm for email security. Users who have linked external accounts to Gmail for convenience and protection must now proactively adjust their settings. Failing to do so could result in a dramatic increase in dangerous emails slipping through what was once a highly effective digital defense.
(Source: Forbes)
