Secure services client software

San Jose California Tollfree Phone Pulse Connect Secure Version. Analyzing the merits of the open source model in his book The Cathedral and the Bazaar , developer Eric Raymond writes:. Consider the way a puddle of water finds a drain, or better yet how ants find food: exploration essentially by diffusion [ Or, less formally, "Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow.

There's nothing about closed source software that implies insecurity, but an open source email service and app is usually desirable because you will be able to review third-party audits and proof. We reached out to Brett Shavers, digital forensics analyst and owner of incident response training firm DFIR Training , to clarify why it's important that a tool is open source:. Open source implies that since the code is open to inspection that it must be safer since you can see the code.

But for all practical purposes, few ever check the code of any open source software and trust it anyway. With closed source, you just have to trust it. Either way, most email users simply trust their service.

I tend to go with the open source model. For closed-source projects, you have to take the developer's word for it, and they could be implementing dodgy cryptography. Did you know that when you send an email, you're also broadcasting information about your computer, web browser, network, and recipient?

This data is stored in email header metadata, and secure email services usually strip it out. Remember, when you're dealing with security, you're also dealing with smart humans trying to mine available information about your life, habits, and preferences. If you don't think metadata matters, maybe the Electronic Frontier Foundation can talk you round:.

Even a tiny sample of metadata can provide an intimate lens into a person's life. But nobody knows what you spoke about. Secure email services should strip header metadata out and collect as little data as possible about its users to protect their privacy. Server location was hardly a security consideration for the public before it was revealed that Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States cooperate to share intelligence data about citizens, gathered from servers located inside their territories.

The poster child for this alarming revelation was Lavabit , the now-defunct email service used by Edward Snowden to communicate with human rights activists from his confines in Moscow. Following the forced closure of Lavabit , the email service's founder displayed this message on the site's homepage:. This experience has taught me one very important lesson: without congressional action or a strong judicial precedent, I would strongly recommend against anyone trusting their private data to a company with physical ties to the United States.

It's not just that the U. Now let's take a look at seven of the most secure email services and see how they stack up. A mature end-to-end encrypted email service with excellent mobile apps. ProtonMail 's servers are locked down under 1, meters of solid rock, in a Swiss bunker that can survive a nuclear attack. And its digital security is about as impressive.

It began development by a team of CERN Large Hadron Collider scientists in the wake of the Snowden leak, and has since become the 1 most-used secure email service with over five million users.

ProtonMail is designed with the principle of zero access and zero knowledge, which means that the email servers and staff that work with them have no way of reading or sharing your emails. In the unlikely case ProtonMail was ordered to hand over user data, it would have to be specifically subpoenaed by the Cantonal Court of Geneva or the Swiss Federal Supreme Court.

And, even if user data were seized, it would be impossible to decipher because of ProtonMail's encryption:. That means that no hacker intercepting emails sent from ProtonMail will be able to decrypt and read your emails. ProtonMail's encryption and web interface are also open source , which has allowed experts to audit and confirm its high levels of security. That said, ProtonMail's super-secure encryption can sometimes be a barrier to usability. It isn't possible to add your ProtonMail inbox to a mobile mail app like iOS Mail or K-9 Mail because these generic apps have no way of encrypting emails on the client side, which means ProtonMail won't let you connect in the first place.

On desktop, however, you're free to use a variety of popular generic clients as long as you install ProtonMail Bridge , which acts as an encryption layer on top of the client. Secure and anonymous email for activists. Posteo's secure servers are based in Germany, and its values are centered around privacy, usability, and sustainability. Like a lot of privacy products, Posteo came into the public consciousness after the Edward Snowden leaks.

It was the first email service to launch DNS-based Authentication of Named Entities DANE on its servers in order to secure users against hackers impersonating them or their email recipients—that is, the man-in-the-middle attacks detailed in leaked NSA documents. Posteo doesn't just refuse to collect its customers' identities, it also routinely fights legal battles for the right to not turn user data over to the authorities. Their transparency report reveals that Posteo received 48 requests for user data and mailbox seizure from German and international authorities, and three requests were successful.

However, Posteo does not store identifying data or a user's IP address, so any email content seized isn't able to be formally linked to a user. Posteo encrypts data you send over its servers while it is in transit and at rest, but doesn't offer automatic end-to-end encryption like ProtonMail and Tutanota. This means that any leaked communications could be read in plain text by an intercepting adversary although Posteo largely negates this risk with its DANE feature.

Because it doesn't use end-to-end encryption, it's possible to add your Posteo account to stock mail apps on desktop, iOS, and Android. Cheaper than ProtonMail and just as secure. With over two million users, Tutanota is one of the most popular and regularly recommended secure email services. Visit SuiteDash Now. Clinked is fast, reliable and easy to use in minutes.

Moreover, the sharing can be set up and let the users upload multiple files easily. Enables you to organize documents for each particular user. It includes many features, including downloading files of any size, file and folder permissions, and much more. The FTP alternative can be used. Visit BudgetPulse Now. The customer portal software of SupportBee offers your customers a dedicated space for managing and monitoring their support requests.

This transparency and accountability of SupportBee can ensure that your customers don't lose their demands in the black-holes of the company. Visit SupportBee Now.

This customer portal provides your customers to examine the work online, share information securely with other members. It is one location, which you can access via your web browser, so it's easy to set up and use, even for your customers. Using Microsoft office online, you can review and co-edit the documents with your clients. Contact Cisco. Get a call from Sales.