Since March 20, Google has activated the new Gmail security mechanism, the company's email service.

From now on all connections to the service will be made through HTTPS, secure connection protocol between the server and the client, preventing information from passing or being viewed by third parties during the connection, as is the case with the common HTTP.
Before, it was possible to change in the email settings whether the user wanted to use HTTPS or not, now it is mandatory. In addition, all information exchanged between the Gmail server and the user has been encrypted. So even if some malicious software is installed on your computer to steal information, it would be indecipherable.
According to experts, the biggest motivation for Google to make this change in its service was the charge of Snowden against the NSA, stating that the agency would be filtering thousands of data on the Internet.

So you mean we're safe?

Nope. Just as security technologies advance, so does the dark side of force. Every day security protocols are broken by hackers all over the world, so stay smart and avoid leaving your information giving soup around.
Source: Google Official Blog