Google Disables Internet Access for Thousands of Its Employees

Google is disabling internet access for thousands of its employees in an attempt to reduce the risk of cyberattacks.

As CNBC reports(Opens in a new window), Google is running a pilot program that sees thousands of workers have their internet access restricted to Google-owned websites/tools (e.g. Docs, Drive) and internal web tools. Initially, 2,500 employees were selected for the pilot, but feedback resulted in participants being given the option to opt out.

Root access will also be restricted for some workers, meaning they can’t install software or run administrative commands on their PCs. Any Google employee can volunteer to join the pilot if they don’t mind losing internet access.

According to an internal description of the pilot seen by CNBC, the reason for the experiment is because “Googlers are frequent targets of attacks.” No internet access means the threat of a cyberattack being successful is reduced, but Google has over 178,000 employees around the world following its round of 12,000 job cuts earlier this year.

“Ensuring the safety of our products and users is one of our top priorities,” Google said in a statement. “We routinely explore ways to strengthen our internal systems against malicious attacks.”

Last year, cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure jumped significantly, with businesses needing to prepare for if and when they are targeted, and Google is no exception. The company has long required its employees to use multi-factor authentication. In 2017, it started giving out physical security keys to its then-85,000 employees. A year later, it said that no employees had reported any confirmed takeovers of work-related accounts.