By Medha Cloud Security Desk
Google is quietly expanding a new security measure that binds browser sessions to the physical devices that created them, an acknowledgment that cookie-stealing attacks have become one of the most persistent threats to Google Workspace accounts.
The initiative, called Device Bound Session Credentials (DBSC), is now being tested across Chrome and Workspace environments. Its purpose is simple: make stolen cookies worthless.
Traditional web sessions rely on bearer tokens — small pieces of data that tell Google’s servers who you are. If an attacker lifts that token from a compromised device, they can impersonate the victim indefinitely. DBSC aims to change that by pairing each token with the cryptographic identity of the user’s device. (The Verge)
The rollout follows months of research documenting how session hijacking has overtaken password phishing as the favored method of account takeover. Browser extensions, infostealer malware, and even public-Wi-Fi sniffers have made cookie theft easy and profitable. Once inside, intruders can read Gmail, exfiltrate Drive files, and pivot into connected SaaS apps — all while the real user remains logged in.
Security analysts view DBSC as both a defensive milestone and a signal of growing urgency. “When the world’s largest cloud provider starts re-architecting session management, you know the problem isn’t theoretical,” one researcher noted.
Yet adoption will take time. DBSC requires updated browsers, compatible policies, and user migration; millions of unmanaged endpoints will remain outside its protection for months, if not years. During that window, attackers can still exploit stolen tokens to maintain silent access.
For organizations whose work depends on Gmail, Docs, and Drive, the question is less about patching a single flaw and more about visibility — who is logged in, from where, and with what level of control.
Microsoft 365 already enforces conditional-access checks on every session, integrates device health into sign-in policies, and allows real-time token revocation from a central dashboard — capabilities that reduce the lifespan of any breach from days to minutes.
Medha Cloud helps enterprises migrate to Microsoft 365 securely, consolidating identity, session, and endpoint governance into a single managed environment.
