Designed to work in tandem with the malware monitoring tools that Google already builds into Drive, Chrome, and Gmail, the protection was built using the expertise of Google’s core antivirus software development team, James notes.
“For me, the coolest part is that we can take this AI-based way of detecting ransomware behavior and then we can pair it with protecting the user’s data so we minimize the damage,” James says. “We see it as a missing safety net.”
The feature has some straightforward limitations, though. It is only relevant at all, of course, if a business or institution uses Drive for desktop in the first place—a not insignificant caveat when so much of enterprise software is still dominated by Microsoft. Additionally, Drive for desktop is an app for Windows PCs and Macs. If ransomware is tearing through digital files that aren’t stored in Drive, Google has no ability to detect the infection.
Other cloud storage platforms, including Microsoft’s OneDrive and Dropbox, offer features with similarities to the new Drive for desktop ransomware protection. And while detection and response are crucial components as defenders work to deter cybercriminals and empower victims to withhold ransom payments, the benefits and limitations of each individual tool serve as a reminder that there is still no panacea for the threat of ransomware.