There’s surely some connection between Google flipping the switch on https access for everyone using Gmail as a default and the China debacle but they likely won’t admit it. Not that they need to but it became quite clear that Gmail accounts had been accessed via third parties yesterday when it was announced that Google might be pulling out of China after thwarting a cyber attack. The pundits of the World Wide Web are pontificating that bigger things are happening and we’ll be tracking the news closely today. But I digress.
(More on Techland: Google Uncovers Cyber Attack, Threatens To Exit China)
Late last night (at least for the East Coast) Gmail’s Engineering Director Sam Schillace announced that https access would be rolled out as the default option for everyone. It used to be an option for the paranoid but it’s now the default setting. It can be turned off under Gmail Settings, though.
Note: If you use offline Gmail over http currently, the switch to https is likely to cause some problems. Learn more about this known issue and how to work around it.
But it somehow hasn’t happened to my Gmail account and I’ve never touched the https settings. What about you?
