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Too many signups shut down NSA-proof email service ProtonMail in three days
Aviva Gat | On May 19, 2014Internet
The Geneva-based encrypted email service launched in beta on May 16. Within 60 hours, so many people signed up that its servers maxed out. It’s now looking to increase capacity and will reopen for signups soon
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Rate this (4 Votes)
Credit: ProtonMail
With the recent NSA scandal in the U.S. and the censorship of websites such as YouTube in Turkey or Whatsapp in Iran, people around the world are all hungry for more secure internet access.
Maybe too hungry, as an overwhelming response to ProtonMail, a fully secured and encrypted email service, completely maxed out the email’s servers just three days after its launch. ProtonMail launched in public beta on May 16, allowing users from anywhere to create email accounts that are fully encrypted and NSA proof. Three days later, on May 19, ProtonMail announced it was temporarily closing its beta signups until it could expand its server capacity and improve its security.
“When we launched ProtonMail, we did not anticipate that there would be so much interest in our service,” ProtonMail wrote on its website. “We thought we had enough resources in place to support over 1 month of user signups. Never could we have imagined that we would hit that limit in around 60 hours.”
ProtonMail is now going through a full security audit and awaiting those results. It is also looking for additional developers to help build the platform for wide use.
“To our current beta users, we thank you very much for taking the time to try out ProtonMail and giving us your suggestions,” ProtonMail said. “We also appreciate your bug reports so you should also keep those coming! As we are still in beta, bugs will inevitably come up, but we promise to continue improving ProtonMail and that is not possible without your help and support.”
Future users can reserve a username while waiting for the time when the email service will again be available for wide use.
Fully encrypted, fully secure
ProtonMail is completely free and works on smartphones and tablets as well. Because of end-to-end encryption, all data is already encrypted by the time it reaches the ProtonMail servers, so even they can’t read your emails. (Goodbye targeted ads like what we see on Gmail!)
The platform was founded in summer 2013 byCERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) scientists Andy Yen, the systems administrator and a Harvard and CalTech trained physicist; Jason Stockman, the front-end developer who previously worked for Epson, 3M, Versace and the International Red Cross; and back-end developer Wei Sun, an MIT-trained physicist who built the software for AMS Collaboration. Early hackathons for the platform took place at the famous CERN Restaurant One and it was further developed at MIT in Boston.
While the founders are centered in the U.S., ProtonMail is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, due to the country’s privacy laws. According to ProtonMail, EU and U.S. privacy laws have many of the same surveillance directives that can allow for gag orders that can prevent individuals from knowing they are being investigated or under surveillance.
Switzerland, which is not part of the EU, has very different privacy laws, that require targets of surveillance to be informed as soon as possible. Also, all surveillance requests must go through the court system in Switzerland and any international requests for information must also hold up under Swiss law. (Same reasons why Swiss bank accounts are known for being the most secure.)
“As our users from China, Iran, Russia, and other countries around the world have shown us in the past months, ProtonMail is an important tool for freedom of speech and we are happy to finally be able to provide this to the whole world,” ProtonMail wrote when it launched the service.
Too bad its servers weren’t exactly ready for the whole world. But we hope they fix things fast at ProtonMail, as privacy seems to be the thing people are missing these days.
http://www.geektime.com/2014/05/19/...proof-email-service-protonmail-in-three-days/
Aviva Gat | On May 19, 2014Internet
The Geneva-based encrypted email service launched in beta on May 16. Within 60 hours, so many people signed up that its servers maxed out. It’s now looking to increase capacity and will reopen for signups soon
ExcellentGoodAveragePoorAwful
Rate this (4 Votes)
Credit: ProtonMail
With the recent NSA scandal in the U.S. and the censorship of websites such as YouTube in Turkey or Whatsapp in Iran, people around the world are all hungry for more secure internet access.
Maybe too hungry, as an overwhelming response to ProtonMail, a fully secured and encrypted email service, completely maxed out the email’s servers just three days after its launch. ProtonMail launched in public beta on May 16, allowing users from anywhere to create email accounts that are fully encrypted and NSA proof. Three days later, on May 19, ProtonMail announced it was temporarily closing its beta signups until it could expand its server capacity and improve its security.
“When we launched ProtonMail, we did not anticipate that there would be so much interest in our service,” ProtonMail wrote on its website. “We thought we had enough resources in place to support over 1 month of user signups. Never could we have imagined that we would hit that limit in around 60 hours.”
ProtonMail is now going through a full security audit and awaiting those results. It is also looking for additional developers to help build the platform for wide use.
“To our current beta users, we thank you very much for taking the time to try out ProtonMail and giving us your suggestions,” ProtonMail said. “We also appreciate your bug reports so you should also keep those coming! As we are still in beta, bugs will inevitably come up, but we promise to continue improving ProtonMail and that is not possible without your help and support.”
Future users can reserve a username while waiting for the time when the email service will again be available for wide use.
Fully encrypted, fully secure
ProtonMail is completely free and works on smartphones and tablets as well. Because of end-to-end encryption, all data is already encrypted by the time it reaches the ProtonMail servers, so even they can’t read your emails. (Goodbye targeted ads like what we see on Gmail!)
The platform was founded in summer 2013 byCERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) scientists Andy Yen, the systems administrator and a Harvard and CalTech trained physicist; Jason Stockman, the front-end developer who previously worked for Epson, 3M, Versace and the International Red Cross; and back-end developer Wei Sun, an MIT-trained physicist who built the software for AMS Collaboration. Early hackathons for the platform took place at the famous CERN Restaurant One and it was further developed at MIT in Boston.
While the founders are centered in the U.S., ProtonMail is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, due to the country’s privacy laws. According to ProtonMail, EU and U.S. privacy laws have many of the same surveillance directives that can allow for gag orders that can prevent individuals from knowing they are being investigated or under surveillance.
Switzerland, which is not part of the EU, has very different privacy laws, that require targets of surveillance to be informed as soon as possible. Also, all surveillance requests must go through the court system in Switzerland and any international requests for information must also hold up under Swiss law. (Same reasons why Swiss bank accounts are known for being the most secure.)
“As our users from China, Iran, Russia, and other countries around the world have shown us in the past months, ProtonMail is an important tool for freedom of speech and we are happy to finally be able to provide this to the whole world,” ProtonMail wrote when it launched the service.
Too bad its servers weren’t exactly ready for the whole world. But we hope they fix things fast at ProtonMail, as privacy seems to be the thing people are missing these days.
http://www.geektime.com/2014/05/19/...proof-email-service-protonmail-in-three-days/