Google’s Advanced Protection Program: extra security at a cost

Are you a high-risk user whose Google account hackers might want to target? If you are, how much hassle would you put up with to make your account more secure?

These are questions Google is inviting its users to ask themselves with the announcement of the Advanced Protection Program (APP), a reassuring but also potentially awkward way to add extra layers of security to Google accounts.

Available from this week, it’s free to all consumer Google account holders, but before you rush off to sign up let’s dig a little deeper into what is on offer because the downsides won’t be for everyone.