As the war in Ukraine continues, Google is rolling out an Android feature that it hopes will help people in the country stay safe. The Ukrainian government asked Google to install an air raid warning system on Android phones, and it worked with the company to do it. Google says this feature complements existing air raid warnings – based on the alerts the government already provides to its citizens. When an air strike alert is issued, Android users can also follow it from the alerts on their phones.
Google says it’s now suspending most of its business activities in Russia, in a recent update to its blog post detailing the steps it’s taken to help Ukraine. These include ads for all organizations located in Russia, Google Cloud signups, payments on most services, and YouTube monetization for Russian viewers. Free services like YouTube, Gmail and Search are still in use in Russia for now.
From today, hotel owners in Ukraine’s neighboring countries will be able to note in their business profiles whether they are offering discounted or free accommodation to refugees. Businesses can share details about their services and assistance to refugees from Ukraine through their business profiles in Search and Maps.
Google also allows NGOs in Warsaw to use one of their campuses to offer legal and psychological support to refugees. It previously announced a similar support to NGOs in Slovakia, Romania and Hungary, as well as a $10 million commitment to local organizations helping refugees in Poland.
Google’s Threat Analysis Group found that hacking groups FancyBear and Ghostwriter were operating, believed to have ties to Russia and Belarus, respectively. The team shared details on these threats earlier this week to raise awareness among those in the security community and those who may be at risk of a cyberattack.
The company also said it complies with an EU directive to remove Russian state-funded media websites from search results in the region. Finally it removes more Russian media apps from Google Play.
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