Proton

UPDATE Sept. 15, 2020: SwissSign has dealt with the DDoS attack and has taken measures to prevent similar outages in the future. Therefore, we are using them again as our certificate authority. We have updated the fingerprints at the bottom of this article.

Proton has recently begun using Let’s Encrypt instead of SwissSign as the certificate authority to issue our TLS certificates on a temporary basis.

We have always been committed to transparency, safeguarding your privacy and offering you the best service possible. We regularly evaluate our certificate authority and have decided to temporarily switch to Let’s Encrypt because we believe they can offer a higher level of reliability after recent issues with SwissSign, which we explain further in this article. 

This change will have no practical impact on your experience using Proton Mail and Proton VPN. You can still log in and use our services as you always have done. The only difference is if you check your TLS certificate manually, you will see that it was issued by Let’s Encrypt rather than by SwissSign. 

Why we are temporarily changing certificate authorities

Certificate authorities are trusted third parties responsible for verifying websites’ servers and providing a stable and secure connection when users visit a website. In your browser, the padlock in your address bar indicates that your connection to the website’s servers is TLS encrypted and provides details about the certificate authority that is providing the certificate. 

Learn more about TLS encryption and how it works

Our provider, SwissSign AG, has been under DDoS attack since last Monday, which led to interruptions of our services. It’s important to note that this didn’t put our users’ data at risk. Until SwissSign can mitigate the attack, we have temporarily switched to another certificate authority called Let’s Encrypt(nueva ventana).

Let’s Encrypt is a certificate authority operated for the public’s benefit by the nonprofit Internet Security Research Group(nueva ventana). This organization is sponsored by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Mozilla Foundation and others, and has an excellent track record for security and stability. Like us, they regularly publish transparency reports(nueva ventana) and use open standards wherever possible, so it is an additional benefit that Let’s Encrypt’s values align with ours. 

You can review Let’s Encrypt’s documentation here(nueva ventana)

As always, we will continue to evaluate the best option for our users.  

You can also find Proton’s new SHA-256 and SHA-1 below:

SHA-256 23:00:B8:54:21:8A:3D:4F:4F:E7:8B:58:9E:ED:FA:BB:16:65:51:89:D8:71:00:85:A5:67:D0:33:AA:60:3B:CC

SHA-1
42:65:80:E0:43:5A:08:9C:1D:26:14:7F:58:A1:6A:40:94:F2:59:A0

Best regards,
The Proton Mail Team

You can get a free secure email account from Proton Mail here(nueva ventana).

We also provide a free VPN service(nueva ventana) to protect your privacy.

Proton Mail and Proton VPN are funded by community contributions. If you would like to support our development efforts, you can upgrade to a paid plan. Thank you for your support.

***

Feel free to share your feedback and questions with us via our official social media channels on Twitter(nueva ventana) and Reddit(nueva ventana).

Artículos relacionados

A phone screen with a speech bubble with a phone number in it
en
Your email address and passwords aren't the only information hackers can use to scam you. Here's what someone can do with your phone number — and how to protect it.
A web application screen with an unlock icon in the bottom right corner
en
Your best defense against a data breach could be improving your web application security: Find out how Proton Pass can help.
Investigative journalist Vegas Tenold explains the gear he uses to protect his privacy and stay safe.
en
  • Novedades de privacidad
Follow investigative journalist Vegas Tenold as he explains his gear and how it keeps him safe from surveillance as he works in the field.
Coinbase, the largest Bitcoin exchange in the US, suffered a data breach
en
  • Novedades de privacidad
  • Proton Wallet
Coinbase employees sold sensitive personal information to attackers, including government IDs and BTC transaction history. Proton Wallet is built to avoid these risks.
Whistleblower's whistle. Journalists must use secure channels to communicate with whistleblowers.
en
Whistleblowers risk everything to expose the truth. This guide helps journalists keep their sources safe using secure tools like Proton Mail, Signal, and SecureDrop.
An image showing a phone screen with a child icon and three icons with '17+' '8-12' and '3-5' to indicate age ratings
en
  • Guías de privacidad
Parents can help their children develop healthy screen habits by learning about dark design patterns — Proton investigates how