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Exchange Online Restrict Email Login to Ip Address Updated FREE

Exchange Online Restrict Email Login to Ip Address

Are your emails and attachments rubber from prying optics?

Unless yous are using a secure e-mail service that respects your privacy, the answer is probably no. Most large electronic mail providers, such as Gmail and Yahoo, practise not respect the privacy of your inbox. For example,

Gmail was defenseless giving third parties full admission to user emails and besides tracking all of your purchases.
Advertisers have been allowed to scan Yahoo and AOL accounts to "place and segment potential customers by picking upwards on contextual buying signals, and past purchases."
Yahoo has been caught scanning emails in real-fourth dimension for The states surveillance agencies.

While Gmail does permit users to opt out of some invasive features, the basic concern model of these services revolves around data collection.

Large-name email services put lots of coin into security, but they are also big targets and not invulnerable. In March, the big news was the ease with which hackers were able to compromise thousands of Microsoft Substitution email servers. You might well be safer using a smaller, less well-known email service.

Another business organization is where your email service is locatedand how this may bear on your information and privacy. Some jurisdictions have laws to protect information privacy (Switzerland), while others have laws in place to erode it (the Us and Australia). We'll comprehend this in more detail beneath.

On a positive notation, in that location is a relativelysimple solution for keeping your inbox more than secure: switch to a secure email provider that respects your privacy.

What is the best secure e-mail service in 2022?

With so many dissimilar types of users, there is no single "best secure email" service that will exist the elevation selection for everyone.

While some may prioritize maximum security and strong encryption, others may want convenience and simplicity with convenient apps for all devices.

Here are just a few factors to consider when switching to a secure email provider:

Jurisdiction – Where is the service located and how does this impact user privacy? Where is your data physically stored?
PGP support – Some secure email providers support PGP, while others practice not apply PGP due to its vulnerabilities and weaknesses.
Import feature – Can you import your existing emails and contacts?
Electronic mail apps – Due to encryption, many secure email services cannot be used with tertiary-party electronic mail clients, but some also offering dedicated apps.
Encryption – Are the emails end-to-end encrypted in transit? Are emails and attachments encrypted at rest?
Features – Some features you may want to consider are contacts, calendars, file storage, inbox search, collaboration tools, and support for DAV services.
Security – What are the provider'south security standards and policies?
Privacy – How does the email service protect your privacy? What data is existence collected, for how long, and why?
Threat model – How much privacy and security do you lot need and which service best fits those needs?

The goal of this guide is to help you find the best secure email solution for your unique needs.

This list is non in rank club . (Choose the best secure email service for you based on your ain unique needs!)

Hither are the near secure email providers that protect your privacy.

1. Mailfence – Fully-featured secure email in Belgium

Based in	Belgium
Storage	5-50 GB
Price	€3.25/mo.
Free Tier	Upwardly to 500 MB
Website	Mailfence.com

Mailfence is a fully-featured secure e-mail provider offer calendar and contacts functionality, file storage, and PGP encryption support. Information technology is based in Belgium, which is a good privacy jurisdiction with strict data protection laws.

For those wanting full PGP command and interoperability, without plugins or add-ons, Mailfence is a solid choice. Whether you lot are a personal user or you need a secure email solution for your concern or team, Mailfence likely has all the features and options you'd want.

While many secure electronic mail services cede features and functionality for security, y'all can have it all with Mailfence. This makes Mailfence a great alternative to full electronic mail and productivity suites, such as One thousand Suite or Part 365.

In testing everything out for the Mailfence review, I constitute it to piece of work very well with an intuitive pattern, slick layout, and tons of features. Mailfence also offers email and phone support, in addition to cryptocurrency payment options.

+ Pros

Offers finish-to-stop encryption and digital signatures
Mobile and web apps
Data is stored on Belgian servers
Offers OpenPGP encryption
Messages, Documents, Calendar, Contacts, and Groups
SMTP, POP, and IMAP support
Tin synchronize with other email clients
Supports password-protected messages with expiration time
Removes IP addresses from post headers
OpenPGP user keystore
Swell user interface (recently updated)
Cryptocurrency payment options

– Cons

Logging of IP address and some other data
Lawmaking is not open source

Website: https://Mailfence.com

Meet our Mailfence review for more info.

two. Tutanota – Private and secure email in Germany

Based in	Federal republic of germany
Storage	ane – 1,000 GB
Price	€1.00/mo.
Free Tier	Upwardly to i GB
Website	Tutanota.com

Tutanota is a Germany-based secure email service run past a small squad of privacy enthusiasts, with no outside investors or owners. Although it is not equally widely known as ProtonMail, Tutanota is a serious player amongst secure email providers. Its hybrid encryption system overcomes some of the drawbacks of PGP, and your privacy rights are protected past the GDPR and other pro-privacy EU regulations.

Note: Tutanota claims that their encryption can be updated/strengthened if necessary against quantum-computer attacks.

All letters in your inbox, contacts, and calendar are encrypted at residue on servers in Frg. For sending encrypted emails with Tutanota, you have 2 options:

Emailing another Tutanota user, which encrypts everything automatically (asymmetric encryption)
Emailing an external (non-Tutanota) user with a link to the bulletin and sharing a password key for encrypting/decrypting messages (symmetric encryption).

While Tutanota uses high encryption standards and is arguably one of the most secure electronic mail providers anywhere, it also comes with some tradeoffs. This includesno back up for PGP, IMAP, POP, or SMTP. Additionally, you cannot import existing emails into your encrypted Tutanota inbox.

To explicate why Tutanota does not rely on PGP standards, Tutanota cofounder Matthias Pfau wrote this piece for Restore Privacy readers,Allow PGP Dice: Why We Need a New Standard for Email Encryption.

If you are looking for a transparent, high-security e-mail provider run by a team of privacy enthusiasts, Tutanota is a solid pick.

+ Pros

Encrypted messages (including Discipline lines) Accost Book, Inbox Rules and Filters, Search Index, encrypted at remainder and stored on German servers
Can search trunk of encrypted messages
Tin send encrypted messages to non-users
Strips IP address from emails
Desktop, mobile, and spider web apps
Open up source code (including mobile apps)
Great apps for mobile devices
Free accounts with 1 GB of storage
Encrypted calendar with iCard support
Encrypted contacts
Inbox rules with Spam filter
Multiple email addresses (aliases)
Support for custom domains and other toll+ features
Discounts and additional support for not-profits
Publishes regular Transparency Reports

– Cons

Does not work with PGP
Currently no manner to import existing emails
Based in a fourteen eyes country (Germany)
Only accepts credit card or PayPal; no cryptocurrency payments

Website: https://Tutanota.com

See our Tutanota review for more info.

3. ProtonMail – Secure email in Switzerland

Based in	Switzerland
Storage	5-20 GB
Price	$iv.00/mo.
Costless Tier	Up to 500 MB
Website	ProtonMail.com

UPDATE: ProtonMail was forced by a Swiss courtroom to log user IP addresses for a specific criminal complaint. Become more than info in our article on the ProtonMail logging example here.

ProtonMail is a Switzerland-based email service that enjoys a keen reputation in the privacy community. It was started by a team of academics working at MIT and CERN in 2014. Shortly thereafter, it was promoted in American media every bit "the only e-mail system the NSA can't admission" – which was around the time Lavabit was shut down for not cooperating with the US government.

Looking at the service itself, ProtonMail does a lot of things right. Information technology utilizes PGP encryption standards for electronic mail and stores all messages and attachments encrypted at residual on Swiss servers. ProtonMail has a unique feature for "self-destructing messages" and they take also added address verification and full PGP support.

Regarding encryption, withal, it'south important to note that ProtonMail does not encrypt discipline lines of emails or sure metadata, inherent limitations of the PGP standard. Well-nigh of the email services we discuss hither use PGP, but I wouldn't count on any of them to keep me safe from the NSA or their counterparts in other major countries.

Additionally, the ProtonMail search function tin only search subject lines within your inbox, merely non the actual content of your emails. This is another functional limitation that comes from integrating more encryption and security into the service.

ProtonMail does offer some cracking apps for mobile devices (Android and iOS). Yous can also utilize ProtonMail with third-party apps through the ProtonMail Bridge feature (restricted to paid users).

Overall ProtonMail is a well-regarded email provider and should be a great secure email option for most users. Switzerland remains a stiff privacy jurisdiction that is not a member of any surveillance alliances.

In addition to email, the same team also offers a VPN service, which nosotros have tested for the ProtonVPN review.

+ Pros

Finish-to-stop (E2E) and zero-access encryption for Email, Calendar, and Contact data
Operates under Swiss jurisdiction
All data stored on servers in Switzerland
Apps for Android and iOS mobile devices
Spider web client, encryption algorithms, Android and iOS code are all open source
Support for custom domains
Strips IP accost from emails
Can exist used with 3rd-party email clients through the ProtonMail Bridge feature
Can import contacts and emails

– Cons

ProtonMail does non encrypt e-mail subject field lines
Sometimes requires personal information for verification of new accounts
Above-average pricing
Incredibly long beta examination cycles
May be forced to log user IP addresses by court lodge

Website: https://ProtonMail.com/

Encounter our ProtonMail review for more info.

4. Mailbox.org – Private email in Germany

Based in	Germany
Storage	2 – 100 GB
Price	€1.00/mo.
Free Tier	None
Website	Mailbox.org

Another Deutschland-based secure email provider worth considering is Mailbox.org. Not only does it protect your email with elevation-stop security protocols, Mailbox.org is a full-featured e-mail and productivity suite, similar to Function 365. It offers a huge lineup of features: Mail, Calendar, Address Book, Drive (deject storage), Tasks, Portal, Text, Spreadsheet, Presentation, and Webchat. Despite all the features, the layout and design of Mailbox.org still manages to exist user-friendly.

When choosing a secure electronic mail provider, you often have to choose betwixt features and security. With Mailbox.org, you can arguably get the best of both worlds. From the security and encryption side, Mailbox.org offers full PGP support and options to hands encrypt all your information at rest on their secure servers in Frg. Y'all can besides utilise Mailbox.org with mobile apps and third-party email clients.

Lastly, Mailbox.org is very affordable, with basic plans starting at simply €1 per month and going up for more storage and features. Y'all tin pick up a free thirty-day trial if yous want to test-drive this privacy-focused email provider.

+ Pros

PGP support (server-side or E2E through Mailvelope app)
Company and servers located in Germany with stiff privacy protections
HSTS and PFS for letters in transit
Protected against man-in-the-centre attacks
Message and spam filters
Virus protection
Full text search
Pop, IMAP, SMTP, ActiveSync support
vCard, CardDAV, CalDav support
Letters are encrypted at rest
Supports custom domains
Mobile apps for some of the Role features
Open source

– Cons

No mobile electronic mail clients (but tin exist used with third-party email clients)
Some tracking during registration
PGP encryption leaves message subject and metadata exposed

Website: https://Mailbox.org/

Cheque out our Mailbox.org review for more than details.

5. Posteo – Privacy-focused e-mail in Federal republic of germany

Based in	Germany
Storage	2 – xx GB
Toll	€1.00/mo.
Gratis Tier	None
Website	Posteo.de

Posteo is nonetheless another German language email provider that offers a high level of privacy and security for its users. In some respects, it has much in common with Mailbox.org. Both are fully-featured electronic mail providers that utilize PGP encryption standards, with similar prices. Only in a few primal areas, Posteo is a flake dissimilar:

Custom domains are not supported.
There is no spam folder (all emails are either delivered to your inbox or rejected).
There's no trial or gratis tier (but withal quite affordable).

In terms of privacy, Posteo actually makes an effort to protect the privacy of its users. IP addresses are automatically stripped from emails, no logs are kept, and they offering strong encryption standards. In short, this e-mail takes security and privacy very seriously.

Posteo also supports completely anonymous registration and anonymous payments – even allowing you lot to transport greenbacks in the mail for no digital trail. (We run across this trend with VPN services as well.) And if you pay with a credit card, PayPal, or some other digital method, they manually dissever account details from payment info.

+ Pros

Mail, Calendar, Contacts, and Notes are encrypted at rest with OpenPGP on secure servers in Germany
Configurable spam filter
Migration service for moving from another electronic mail service to Posteo
Subject, headers, body, metadata, and attachments are encrypted
Includes Messages, Calendar, Contacts (Address Book), and Notes
Completely Open up Source
Strong commitment to privacy, sustainable energy, and other social initiatives
Self-financed; good track tape (operating since 2009)
No logs, IP accost stripping, secure email storage with daily backups
Allows anonymous (greenbacks) payments
Supports SMTP, POP, and IMAP protocols

– Cons

Custom domains not supported; no ".com" options available
No spam folder (spam emails are either rejected or delivered to regular inbox)
Frg is a fourteen Eyes state
No trial or costless version
Cryptocurrency payments not supported

Website: https://Posteo.de/

See the Posteo review for more info.

6. Runbox – Private and sustainable email in Norway

Based in	Norway
Storage	1 – 25 GB
Price	$1.66/mo.
Free Tier	30 solar day trial
Website	Runbox.com

Runbox is a long-running private e-mail service in Kingdom of norway that has been operating for over 20 years. Norway is as well a good jurisdiction with a strong legal framework for privacy. All Runbox servers are located in secure Norwegian data centers, running on make clean, renewable, hydropower free energy.

One unique feature of Runbox is that it gives you 100 aliases to utilise with your business relationship. Secure file storage is also included, with unlike pricing tiers. Runbox fully supports SMTP, POP, and IMAP protocols and tin exist used with tertiary-party email clients. This year they released Runbox vii, which is a webmail customer, but they practice not offer custom mobile or desktop clients.

Dissimilar some other secure email providers, Runbox does non have a built-in option for encrypting your unabridged mailbox. And while you tin can use PGP with Runbox, it is not all the same built into the platform. Another drawback is that Runbox does non offer a congenital-in calendar, just this feature may exist included in Version seven (when released).

Runbox offers 30 day free trials and makes importing your existing emails uncomplicated with the guides on their site.

+ Pros

IP addresses stripped from letters
Includes Webmail, Contacts, and Files
Servers run on renewable energy
Supports SMTP, Pop, and IMAP protocols
Synchronizes with other electronic mail clients
GDPR compliant
Kingdom of norway has strong information protection laws
100 email aliases per mailbox
Custom domain names on some paid accounts
Numerous payment methods accustomed (including cash and cryptocurrencies)

– Cons

Browser-based; no desktop or mobile apps
Not open source
Data not encrypted within the Runbox system or at residuum
No business organisation-specific features

Website: https://Runbox.com

Check out our Runbox review here .

7. CounterMail – Individual and secure Swedish email service

Based in	Sweden
Storage	4 GB+
Price	$iv.83/mo.
Free Tier	vii day free trial
Website	CounterMail.com

Side by side upwardly on our list is CounterMail, a secure email provider based in Sweden. CounterMail has been operating for over 10 years with a philosophy to "offering the well-nigh secure online email service on the Internet, with excellent free support." CounterMail uses OpenPGP encryption with 4,096-fleck encryption keys. CounterMail also protects users from identity leaks and Man-In-The-Middle attacks with RSA and AES-CBC encryption on peak of SSL.

They likewise continue no logs and store your mail on diskless servers to protect user privacy. Countermail anonymizes email headers and also strips the sender's IP address. All emails and attachments are stored encrypted at rest using OpenPGP on servers in Sweden.

While CounterMail is a bit more expensive than some other secure email providers, they explicate this price departure comes from using just loftier-quality servers and implementing strong security measures. It may not have all the frills, simply CounterMail is a serious security-focused email provider with a x+ year track record.

+ Pros

Supports cryptocurrency payments
Secure, born password manager
All emails and attachments stored encrypted on no-logs, secure servers in Sweden
Custom domain support
Message filter and autoresponder features
Uses RSA, AES-CBC, and SSL encryption to protect confronting leaks and MITM attacks

– Cons

Design and UI feels outdated
More expensive than other secure email options

https://CounterMail.com

viii. CTemplar – An "armored email" service in Iceland

Based in	Republic of iceland
Storage	one-50 GB
Cost	$6.00/mo.
Free Tier	Up to one GB
Website	CTemplar.com

CTemplar is a secure email service based in Iceland, a country with first-class privacy laws. They are worth a test bulldoze, especially if yous can observe yourself a costless version invitation code. That costless version, with its one GB of storage, may be all yous need. If not, a paid program should go the job done.

Note that CTemplar is still a relatively young service, with some features yet under development. In item, they are still working on encrypting your metadata and don't still have IMAP/SMTP support for third-party clients working.

+ Pros

Stiff encryption standards (4096-flake RSA) with built-in back up for cease-to-end encrypted emails (using OpenPGPjs)
100% open source code
Based in Iceland, with some of the strongest privacy laws in the globe
Passwords protected by "Zero Knowledge Password" engineering science
Naught logs; IP address stripped from emails
Anonymous signup options (no phone verification)
Anonymous payment option using Monero
Self-destructing emails and Expressionless Man'due south Timer
Tin ship encrypted emails to non-CTemplar users
Custom email domains
Desktop, mobile, and browser apps
14 24-hour interval money-back guarantee

– Cons

E-mail Subject line only encrypted in paid plans
Above-average prices
No support for IMAP/SMTP and third-party email clients (work in progress)

Website: https://CTemplar.com

Cheque out the CTemplar review to run into how this service did in our tests.

9. Kolab Now – Fully-featured Swiss email

Based in	Switzerland
Storage	2 GB+
Cost	$5.47/mo.
Gratis Tier	30 day trial
Website	KolabNow.com

Based in Switzerland, Kolab At present is a private email service offering lots of features and full electronic mail suite functionality. A Kolab Now subscription includes electronic mail, contacts, calendar, scheduling, collaboration/sharing tools, and cloud file storage. Right now they are running a public beta of their voice and videoconferencing organisation. All of the features and options make Kolab At present an excellent choice for concern users, teams, and privacy-focused individuals.

While Kolab now does offer numerous features and back up for all major operating systems and devices, it also does not offer as much encryption for those who want the highest levels of security. End-to-end encryption for emails is not built-in and emails are not stored encrypted at rest.

The cost is likewise on the college end, specially if you desire access to all features and more storage. However, for those wanting a feature-rich e-mail suite hosted in Switzerland, Kolab Now may exist a adept fit.

+ Pros

Accepts cryptocurrency payments
Full support for POP, SMTP, and IMAP
Switzerland jurisdiction with potent privacy protection
Full email suite with numerous features to replace Gmail, Office365, etc.
Support for custom domains, teams, and business users
End-to-terminate (E2E) encryption is available, just not congenital in

– Cons

E-mail non encrypted at residuum (but stored in high-security Swiss data centre)
Expensive

Website: https://KolabNow.com

10. StartMail – Private electronic mail hosted in The Netherlands

Based in	The Netherlands
Storage	x-twenty GB
Price	$5.00/mo.
Gratis Tier	seven twenty-four hours trial
Website	StartMail.com

StartMail is a secure email service brought to yous by the team behind Startpage, a private search engine based in the netherlands. While there was surprising news about System1 investing in Startpage, StartMail is its own unique entity nether StartMail B.V. – a company operating under Dutch law in Holland.

The Netherlands is a skilful jurisdiction for privacy and StartMail aims to go on as little data every bit possible to run their operations (see privacy policy). Dissimilar about secure email providers, StartMail handles encryption server-side, rather than in the browser – see their white paper explaining why.

StartMail allows users to utilize PGP encryption with emails also being encrypted at residue on their Dutch servers. One cool feature with StartMail is they give yous the power to create temporary, dispensable email addresses "on the fly" to use with different services. IMAP and SMTP are too supported if you want to use StartMail with 3rd-party apps such as Thunderbird.

+ Pros

Can create temporary, disposable e-mail addresses
Accepts cryptocurrency payment
IMAP and SMTP back up; can utilise custom domains
Headers and IP address stripped from all emails
Accounts come with 10 GB file storage

– Cons

No custom mobile apps
Not open source
Higher prices

Website: https://www.StartMail.com

11. Soverin – Bones private email in Netherlands

Based in	The Netherlands
Storage	25 GB
Price	€three.25/mo.
Free Tier	No
Website	Soverin.net

Soverin provides a basic and private email service at a reasonable price. Plans come with 25 GB of storage and custom domains are supported. All data is stored on servers in Germany. Soverin strips IP addresses from headers while likewise using strong encryption standards, although email is non stored encrypted at residuum by default.

For those wanting a basic private email with lots of storage that is protected past European privacy laws, Soverin may exist a good selection. It can also be used with tertiary-party email clients and importing sometime emails is relatively simple.

+ Pros

25 GB of information storage for all plans
Data protected under Dutch privacy laws and GDPR
Can be used with tertiary-party electronic mail clients

– Cons

No custom mobile apps
Not open source
No born encryption options

Website: https://Soverin.net

12. Thexyz – A fully-featured private email service in Canada

Based in	Canada
Storage	25-100 GB
Cost	$two.95/mo.
Free Tier	No
Website	world wide web.Thexyz.com

Another privacy-focused email service worth noting is Thexyz. It is a secure e-mail and web hosting business based in Canada that offers solutions for businesses and individual users. The email arm of Thexyz has been operating since 2009, every bit explained on the about folio. While Canada may not be the best jurisdiction for privacy (5 Eyes), this may not exist too apropos depending on your needs and threat model.

Thexyz does offering some slap-up privacy and security features. Accounts come with encrypted cloud storage equally well as contacts, calendar, and team collaboration tools. All emails are stored encrypted at residual using AES 256-scrap encryption, with double geo-location redundancy. With a basic account, you get unlimited aliases and 25 GB of storage (upgradable to 100 GB). Even with all the perks and features, Thexyz is still very affordable at $2.49/mo with the premium webmail plan.

+ Pros

Great applications and user interface
Email encrypted at rest with 256-bit AES
Subscriptions include calendar, contacts, chat, and encrypted cloud storage
Unlimited aliases; emails can include up to 50 MB attachments
Back up for custom domains
Autoresponder, spam filters, and incoming email filtering
Apps for iOS and Android
Accounts come up with 25 GB of email storage (upgradable to 100 GB)

– Cons

Based in Canada (not the best privacy jurisdiction)
Back up for cease-to-cease email encryption is not built-in

Website: https://www.thexyz.com

Worth mentioning

Aside from the secure email services we discussed above, we are also keeping our middle out for new services emerging into this niche.

CyberFear Anonymous E-mail

CyberFear is an anonymous eastward-postal service service in Poland that has caught our attention. It does non serve ads or log IP addresses, while also offering full encryption on par with our other recommendations. Here is an overview of CyberFear:

Finish-to-stop encryption of emails and metadata
At rest, all of the following e-mail elements are encrypted: email body, subject line, attachments, sender address, recipient address
Anonymous registration with only username and password
No IP logs
Offshore servers (Poland)
Cryptocurrency payments supported
TOR support (Onion address is cyberfear4hlcsac.onion)
Dispensable aliases
Custom domains supported
No external scripts nor captchas
PGP support
Sending encrypted emails exterior (will require password to decrypt)
Option to host CyberFear frontend on your own computer
Push notifications
Open up source frontend (and backend coming soon)

And so far, CyberFear is looking good. You can learn more on their website here.

Email jurisdiction and data privacy

Where your electronic mail service is located (jurisdiction) tin seriously touch the security of your data. Depending on your threat model, this could be a major consideration. For an overview of jurisdiction and privacy, you lot may want to read our article on the 5/nine/14 Eyes surveillance alliances.

Here are some reasons to pay attention to jurisdiction.

United States (leading member of the V Eyes)

Tech companies in the US can exist forced to give government agencies straight admission to their servers for "extensive, in-depth surveillance on live communications and stored information" – as explained in the PRISM surveillance program. Information requests can too be accompanied by gag orders, which forbids the visitor from disclosing what's going on (run across too National Security Letters).

There are a few known cases of US email providers being forced to give upwards data. In i prominent case, Lavabit decided to shut downwards the business rather than give up user data. Another Us email provider, Riseup, was also forced to surrender data to authorities.

After exhausting our legal options, Riseup recently chose to comply with two sealed warrants from the FBI, rather than facing contempt of court (which would have resulted in jail time for Riseup birds and/or termination of the Riseup organisation).

There was a "gag order" that prevented us from disclosing even the existence of these warrants until now. This was also the reason why nosotros could not update our "Canary" [warrant canary that warns users almost these events].

Deutschland (member of the 14 Eyes)

While Germany has long been a stone-solid jurisdiction for privacy-focused tech companies, I've noticed some troubling trends recently:

In January 2019, a German court ruled that Posteo must log IP addresses if required past a valid court order. Posteo explained they would not change their organization to log all users' IP addresses, but would comply for specific users, if ordered by a High german court.
In November 2019, a German courtroom ruling forced Tutanota to provide real-time access to unencrypted emails for specific users targeted by a court order. Every bit Tutanota explained, just unencrypted letters sent after the court order was received would exist affected.

Europe in General

Once again politicians in Europe are trying to find an excuse to limit or ban the utilise of encryption by their people. This time around, the argument is that encryption must exist banned to fight kid abuse. Once once again it is up to tech companies including Tutanota and Mailfence to protect the privacy rights of the populace. In April, a grouping of companies sent an open alphabetic character to the European Parliament arguing against the mass surveillance that the emptying of encryption would be meant to enable.

How this will turn out is unclear, but the possibility of the EU banning encryption casts doubts on the viability of any secure e-mail service based in the European union.

We'll let you know what happens with this.

All e-mail providers must comply with the law

While these examples may seem alarming, the truth is that all e-mail providers must comply with legal requirements in the state they are operating in. For example, ProtonMail, a Switzerland email provider, has also been forced to log IP addresses and disable accounts past valid court orders, as they disclose in their transparency written report.

(Note: If you lot are concerned almost your email service logging your IP address, and so simply use a good VPN service.)

Because everything, some jurisdictions are much better than others, so choose wisely. As a general rule, I'd all the same avert email services in the US, and peradventure other Five Optics jurisdictions.

Want secure email? Pay for it.

The unlimited "gratuitous" email business model is fundamentally flawed. It offers a free service, which is used to collect data and thereby monetize the user and make money on ads. With these privacy-abusing "free" services, y'all are actually paying for the product with your data.

In dissimilarity, hither we recommend privacy-friendly, secure, advert-free e-mail services. While some of these individual electronic mail services offer limited gratuitous subscriptions, you will need to upgrade to a paid plan for more than storage and premium features (the freemium business concern model).

Support expert privacy businesses

Fortunately, you can "vote with your dollars" by supporting these privacy-respecting businesses and upgrade to paid accounts. This will help secure electronic mail providers to grow, meliorate, and serve more people with an ethical business model that does not rely on exploiting their users' data.

Secure email shortcomings and PGP flaws

Most secure e-mail solutions mentioned in this guide use PGP for finish-to-finish encrypted email. PGP, which stands for Pretty Good Privacy and was invented back in 1991 by Phil Zimmermann.

PGP flaws – While PGP is considered a trustworthy, secure encryption method, there take been some flaws in implementing PGP that accept made headlines recently – see also the EFAIL vulnerabilities.

While the news did concenter lots of attention, the "flaws" were mainly limited to the wrong implementation of PGP past tertiary parties. To my knowledge, this did not impact the secure electronic mail providers mentioned in this guide.

Limited Use – Another fundamental trouble with adopting secure email is that few people are willing to go through the hassle of PGP key management, encryption, decryption, etc. In that location are some solutions, to this, however, and by some measures encrypted email usage continues to grow.

Many providers address this issue by making encryption automatic and seamless. Tutanota, for case, uses built-in AES encryption that automatically encrypts emails between Tutanota users, including headers, subject line, trunk, and attachments. They also provide a secure, two-way communication contact form called Secure Connect.

Vulnerabilities – Even when using a secure browser, there are nonetheless vulnerabilities to consider with browser-based electronic mail clients. Phil Zimmermann gave an interview highlighting some of these shortcomings:

"The browser is not a terribly prophylactic place to run code. Browsers have a large attack surface," he said. Wherever encryption and decryption accept place, though, information technology's a vast improvement on no encryption. But even encrypting messages may non be enough, depending on the threat model. The very nature of email makes information technology vulnerable.

"Email has an enormous attack surface," Zimmermann said. "Y'all've non only got cryptographic issues simply you lot've got things like spam and phishing and loading images from a server somewhere that might have things embedded within."

On a positive note, however, there are many options for securing and hardening your browser – see the secure browser and Firefox privacy guides. Furthermore, most secure email providers offer protection confronting these attack vectors by blocking e-mail images by default while also utilizing virus filters.

Keep in mind, however, that non-browser email clients tin also be problematic – potentially revealing unique data almost your operating system (user agent) every bit well equally your IP address and location.

Regardless of these limitations, using a secure email provider will assistance keep large tech companies from harvesting your email data for 3rd parties.

Secure email vs secure messaging apps

Depending on your threat model, you may likewise want to consider using secure messaging apps, which do not accept all of the vulnerabilities discussed in a higher place with e-mail.

Nosotros accept tested many different encrypted and secure messaging apps and compiled a list of our favorites. Hither are a few reviews of some of the best options nosotros've tested:

Betoken review
Wire review
Wickr review
Threema review
Keybase review
Session review
Telegram review

Encrypted messaging apps generally offer a college level of security over email, plus they are much easier to use than PGP email encryption.

Finally, encrypted messaging apps are also convenient for back-and-along conversations, document sharing, and collaboration with others. For more than data, check out our roundup guide on the all-time secure messaging apps.

Always employ a good VPN with electronic mail

Ane key problem with e-mail is that it tin betrayal your IP address and location to third parties, by design.

While some secure email services strip IP addresses and conceal metadata, many others practice not. Even the popular Enigmail encryption plugin, which is used with Thunderbird, was found to be leaking user IP addresses. Some e-mail services may be forced to log user IP addresses by valid courtroom orders, without disclosing any information to the user. We've seen this with electronic mail providers in the United states of america, Germany, and even Switzerland.

Finally, there's also the fact that many email serviceskeep logs for security, which may include user IP addresses, connexion times, and other metadata. Of course, whenever you take logs, this data could end up with third parties (for various reasons).

To finer muffle your IP accost and location, y'all can simply use a practiced VPN service.

A VPN will protect your email and other internet traffic from hackers, while hiding your truthful IP address from anyone snooping on yous.

A VPN creates a secure tunnel between your device and a VPN server, encrypting your traffic and concealing your real IP accost and location. The VPN will encrypt and anonymize your net traffic, while you bear on with business as usual. Some of the larger providers, such as NordVPN and Surfshark, offer apps for all major devices and big server networks around the globe.

Due to the security and privacy benefits a VPN offers, it'southward a smart idea to utilize i whenever you're online. Net providers in many countries are recording user browsing history by logging DNS requests. Depending on local laws, this information could then exist sold to advertisers or handed to government agencies in countries with mandatory data retention laws. With a VPN, your DNS requests are encrypted and handled by the VPN server and unreadable to your ISP or other parties.

For more than info, come across these best VPN services.

Conclusion on secure and individual email services

Whatever your situation is, using a secure and private e-mail provider is a smart pace to protect your data. Gmail, Yahoo, Microsoft, and the other big electronic mail players do not place the highest priority on your privacy. Paying for a good electronic mail service that values privacy ensures yous aren't paying with your personal data.

Once you switch to 1 of these email services you will be much more secure. Then all yous need to exercise is avert non-technical attacks, similar the typical email scams that never seem to go abroad.

See the chief privacy tools guide for other privacy and security essentials.

We also accept a guide on encrypting e-mail.

And if you want more than info on these secure e-mail providers, yous could bank check out the reviews below:

ProtonMail Review
Tutanota Review
Mailfence Review
Mailbox.org Review
Hushmail Review
Posteo Review
Fastmail Review
Runbox Review
CTemplar Review

Have you used one of these secure email providers? Experience gratis to leave your feedback/review of the service below.