Last Updated: October 11, 2023, 06:30 IST
Sundar Pichai has reached out to the affected employees
Google has over 2,000 employees working in Israel and the company is equally invested in preventing cyber mishaps in the region.
As the waging battle between Palestine and Israel takes a toll on millions of people, there are many in the region affected by the sheer turmoil, which includes employees of Google who are working in Israel with the sound of missiles and bombs blazing in the background. Google has two offices in Israel and now Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google has reached out to them internally via this email which has been quoted by 9to5Google this week.
The company has highlighted the push to prevent misinformation through platforms like YouTube and working 24×7 to make sure that hateful content is not passing through the videos on the platform.
Here’s what Pichai has said to Google employees through this internal memo:
Following the terrible attacks in Israel, our immediate focus has been on ensuring our employees’ safety. We’ve now made contact with all of our local employees, and we’ll continue supporting them.
We’re also working to provide reliable, accurate information to people who use our products. Our systems across Google and YouTube prioritise authoritative information in moments of crisis and breaking news. Our teams are working around the clock to ensure this, as well as to detect and remove graphically violent, hateful or terrorist content, or coordinated disinformation campaigns.
Our cybersecurity experts are also sharing their findings in real time with the broader security community. For example, our security unit, Mandiant, has observed fake accounts connected to Iran which are promoting anti-Israeli narratives across various services, as well as investigating reports of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks by suspected pro-Hamas and pro-Russia hacktivist groups targeting Israeli government websites.
Our thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones, and all those affected.
— Google Spokesperson
Pichai also assured that both the offices in Israel having 2,000 employees are accounted for and safe, including those who are travelling to the region. Google also pointed out the certain fake accounts connected to Iran have been spotted sharing content which is not ideal to temper the situation in the region, and tracking possible hacktivist groups from hacking government websites.
