Google Workspace Changes

Launch of the Data Transfer API for bulk ownership transfer of Drive content and Google+ pages.

Google has released the Data Transfer API, which allows administrators to programmatically transfer ownership of Google Drive content and Google+ pages in bulk from one employee to another. To use this API, administrators must have the Data Transfer privilege enabled in the Admin console.

Google Apps data migration service now supports calendar migration from Microsoft accounts.

Google has expanded its data migration service within the Admin console to include support for calendar data. Admins can now easily migrate calendar events from one or multiple Microsoft accounts, including Office 365 and Exchange versions 2007 and above, to Google Apps accounts without requiring additional software or hardware installations.

Admins can now block access to less secure applications in the Admin console.

Google Apps admins now have increased control over user security with the ability to block access to less secure applications via the Admin console (Security > Basic Settings > Less Secure Apps Access). This setting can be applied to entire domains or specific organizational units. If an admin blocks access, end users will no longer see the option to enable less secure apps on their My Account pages and will receive an error message when attempting access. Additionally, blocking this access will disable Google Sync/ActiveSync and Application-Specific Passwords (ASPs) for 2SV users.

Google launches Mobile Application Management (MAM) for iOS devices.

Google has introduced Mobile Application Management (MAM) for iOS devices, enabling administrators to recommend and whitelist specific mobile apps for employees to use on managed iOS devices directly from the Admin console. Employees can discover and download these whitelisted apps via the Device Policy app, and all managed work apps are automatically uninstalled when an administrator wipes the employee's account.

Google Groups audit log support added to the Admin console.

Google Workspace is introducing audit log support for Google Groups for Business. Admins can now monitor user activity, including changes to group settings, permissions, moderation actions, and membership changes (such as additions, removals, bans, and invites), via the Admin console and the Reports API. Additionally, admins can set up custom alerts for Groups audit events to track important activity.

New YouTube settings in Admin console to restrict content on managed networks

Google has introduced new YouTube settings within the Admin console as an Additional Service. These settings enable administrators to restrict YouTube content on managed networks and designate 'approvers' who can whitelist specific content for signed-in users within the domain.

Attachment compliance now identifies actual file types instead of relying on extensions.

The Attachment compliance setting has been improved to scan and identify the actual file type of attachments. This prevents users from circumventing attachment policies by simply renaming file type extensions.

Admins can now prevent users from changing their Google+ profile names.

Google has introduced a new setting in the Google Apps Admin console that allows administrators to control whether users in their organization can edit their profile names in Google+. If administrators disallow name changes, any previously user-edited Google+ profile names will be replaced by the corresponding names listed in the Admin console directory.

Introduction of a new Data Transfer privilege in the Admin console for transferring Google Drive content.

Google has introduced a new Data Transfer privilege in the Admin console. To transfer Google Drive content from one employee to another, delegated admins will now require both the Drive service privilege and this new Data Transfer privilege. Super admins will continue to be the only ones capable of transferring data during user deletion and can manage the assignment of this privilege to other admins.

New management controls for Security Keys in the Admin console

Google Apps admins for Unlimited and Education editions can now deploy, monitor, and manage Security Keys directly via the Admin console. New capabilities include tracking when and where keys were last used through audit reports and the ability to revoke access to lost keys while providing backup codes for users.

Support for spam tagging in headers from upstream mail gateways

Upstream systems can now tag messages as spam in the header, which Gmail will honor, allowing for full delegation of spam filtering to third-party solutions.

Support for multiple upstream server systems for inbound mail gateways

Google Apps now allows admins to configure multiple server systems upstream from Gmail to accommodate more complex network architectures.

Google Apps admins can now set custom alerts for various audit stream events.

Google is introducing a new feature that allows Google Apps admins to create custom alerts for audit stream types including Admin, Tokens, Calendar, Login, and Drive audits. Admins can define specific triggering events, add granular criteria such as the username of the person performing the activity, and designate who receives the alerts.

Self-service password recovery for non-admin Google Apps users.

Google Apps admins now have the option to enable self-service password recovery, allowing non-admin users to reset their own passwords provided they have a recovery phone set up. This feature aims to reduce the administrative workload for password resets but is not available for customers using Single Sign-on (SSO).

New security settings for Google Apps mobile management

Google has released additional security settings for mobile management in the Google Apps administrator control panel. These updates include an IP whitelist for Google Sync (ActiveSync), the ability to enforce 'delete as trash' for Google Sync, options to enable or disable user remote wipe, the ability to enforce only available policies on older Android devices, and the option to enable or disable Google Now.