Common Google Workspace Security Gaps

And How to Fix Them

Let me make an educated guess. You moved to Google Workspace because it was supposed to make things easier. Maybe surprisingly, it did! Score one for Google! However, maybe that utility was disrupted one day by someone forwarded 3,000 customer emails to their personal email on their last day of work. Ouch! That hurts in so many ways.

Here’s the thing. Google Workspace is capable of solid security. However, your Google Workspace is likely missing most core security features. The difference comes down to about 20 minutes of setup that almost nobody does. So let’s change that. The good news is it’s easy and straight-forward. The rest of this article outlines the most common Google Workspace security gaps and how to close them.

1. MFA Is Enabled, But Not (universally) Enforced

Many organizations enable multi-factor authentication and assume they are protected. However, a closer review often reveals gaps. Some users are excluded from MFA, legacy accounts remain active, or administrators create exceptions for convenience (remember the weekend call from the C-Suite whose phone was lost – so they had no MFA and you disabled it?).

Why this matters
A single account without MFA can provide access to email, files, and internal trusted user phishing opportunities (the most successful kind of phishing attack out there!). This is one of the most common issues observed in real-world incidents.

How to fix it
Require MFA for every user without exceptions. Disable legacy authentication entirely. Enforce stronger MFA requirements for administrative accounts. If MFA is optional anywhere, attackers will find it.

2. OAuth Applications Are Trusted Too Easily

OAuth allows users to connect third-party applications to Google Workspace. While convenient, this capability introduces risk. With a single click on “Allow,” an application may gain access to email, files, contacts, and calendars without requiring a password or triggering MFA.

Why this matters
Malicious OAuth applications can quietly access sensitive data for months without detection. This is the risk that catches administrators off guard when they’re cleaning up after a breach, not before one.

How to fix it
Block third-party applications by default. Approve only known, trusted, and approved applications. Review application permissions on a quarterly basis and configure alerts for newly connected apps.

If OAuth access is not being reviewed, your team may be granting full email access to apps they used once for a team-building exercise in 2023.

3. Too Many Administrators Have God-Mode Privileges

God-Mode Admin (okay, it’s called Super Admin, but God-Mode is what it means) access provides broad and powerful control over Google Workspace. Despite this, many environments assign administrative privileges to far too many users. Remember, each additional administrator increases the attack surface and makes auditing more time consuming.

Why this matters
If an administrator account is compromised, an attacker can reset passwords, add addition super admins, disable security controls, and access all your data. At that point, containment becomes extremely difficult.

How to fix it
Limit Super Admin access to a small number of trusted accounts. Use role-based administrative permissions wherever possible. Separate administrative accounts from daily-use email accounts and review administrative activity logs regularly. Least privilege may not be exciting, but it is highly effective.

4. Email Security Is Incompletely Configured

Gmail provides strong baseline protection, but attackers continuously adapt. Common configuration gaps remain widespread, including DMARC policies set to monitoring only, missing external sender warnings, and user training that occurs once and is never reinforced.

Why this matters
Email remains the primary entry point for the great majority of attacks in midmarket and smaller companies. This has not changed in 20+ years.

How to fix it
Enforce SPF, DKIM, and DMARC with a reject policy. Add clear simple but note-worthy labeling for external senders. Provide monthly security awareness training (videos and HootPhish) rather than one-time sessions.

Technology helps, but trained users are often the most effective defense. One marathon training session a year leaves your team sore, confused, and no safer than before. Monthly training builds muscle memory that stops someone from clicking before looking/thinking/validating.

5. Audit Logs Are Not Actively Monitored

Google Workspace generates detailed audit logs, but many organizations never review them. This creates a visibility gap.

Why this matters
Suspicious activity often goes unnoticed, including logins from impossible locations, large-scale file downloads, and hidden inbox forwarding rules. By the time the activity is discovered, significant damage has already happened.

How to fix it
Enable detailed audit logging. Monitor for login anomalies. Review changes to mailbox rules and configure alerts for high-risk behavior.

If no one is watching the logs, attackers operate like burglars who know the house is empty and the owners are on a two-week vacation. They’re not rushing. They’re helping themselves.

6. Files Are Shared Too Broadly

Google Workspace makes file sharing simple, and easy. It prompts users to grant access before sending email to external people, but the warning messages are either too innocuous or ignored leading to far to many sensitive files shared externally without any follow-up or oversight.

Why this matters
Data can leave the organization quietly and without triggering alerts. This often occurs without malicious intent, but the impact remains the same.

How to fix it
Restrict external file sharing by default. Require approval for external access. Regularly review shared links and enforce expiration dates for public links.

Convenience should never override control. Leaving files open to ‘anyone with the link’ is like putting your house keys under the doormat and hoping only the right people find them.

7. There Is No Defined Security Playbook

This might just be the most significant gap. Many organizations use Google Workspace without written security standards, regular access reviews, or clearly assigned security ownership.

Without governance, security configurations gradually degrade. That’s chaos theory plain and simple.

Why this matters
Security settings naturally drift over time if no one is responsible for maintaining and reviewing them. Attackers rely on this drift.

How to fix it
Define baseline Google Workspace security standards. Conduct quarterly access reviews. Align configurations with recognized security benchmarks and assign clear ownership for maintaining them.

Everyone should practice security, but someone must be accountable for it. Attackers scan for the same signs burglars do: no security lights, no alarm company stickers, no guard dog. These are the hallmarks of a house with no one watching.

The Bottom Line: make it look like someone’s always home and watching

Most Google Workspace breaches are not sophisticated nation-state attacks with the latest zero-day exploit. They are simple exploits of default settings, forgotten configurations, and misplaced trust.

Attackers think like burglars. They are not looking for the impossible heist. They are looking for the house with no alarm signs, no lights on timers, and mail piling up at the door.

Close these gaps. Your goal is not perfection. Your goal is to look less easy than the organization next door.

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Additional Resources

• The Hacker News: Filling the Most Common Gaps in Google Workspace Security

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