In 2023, we significantly expanded the Proton ecosystem, introducing many new encryption tools and features, including a password manager(new window) and apps for Proton Drive(new window). While these captured headlines, behind the scenes we also added new features for businesses that use Proton.
In response to specific requests from the community, we’ve added new capabilities, performance improvements, and unique security features.
SMTP Submission
One of the first features we focused on was SMTP Submission, which allows organizations to use third-party services to send automated emails through Proton’s mail servers. Emails received through SMTP Submission are secured with zero-access encryption, just like all incoming mail at Proton.
There are many use cases for this feature, including:
- Allowing printers and scanners to send documents to email addresses within your organization
- Integrating your email with your customer relationship manager (CRM), enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, or website to send and receive mail
Apart from increased data security, one major additional benefit is that you get excellent deliverability because emails are sent through Proton servers, which have a high sender reputation.
Automatic email forwarding
Automatic email forwarding was a highly requested feature that is now available to everyone with a paid plan. What’s most significant about this feature is that Proton Mail is the first large-scale email service to preserve end-to-end encryption for forwarded emails. This was a major R&D challenge for our cryptography team.
As a result, businesses can set up role addresses, such as sales@example.com, which would forward any incoming emails to the team members responsible while still keeping the data private. Email forwarding also lets you integrate with a CRM so incoming emails from customers could be forwarded to external services like Salesforce or Zendesk.
Coupled with SMTP Submission, which allows the external services to also send emails, Proton Mail now fully supports email integrations.
Better desktop apps
Many professional users like to use desktop apps such as Outlook to deal with their high volume of emails. This is why we started building desktop apps for Mail and Calendar, which are now available for testing to anyone with a Visionary plan and will be released to everyone this year.
We also released an improved Bridge(new window) app, which has significant stability and performance improvements. The Bridge desktop app lets you connect a third-party desktop app like Outlook, Thunderbird, or Apple Mail with Proton Mail through IMAP/SMTP.
Advanced account protection
In August, we launched a cutting-edge account security program called Proton Sentinel, which combines advanced AI with human analysts to protect accounts 24/7 from suspicious login attempts and account takeovers. It can also give you more data to self-monitor your activity, including login location and device details.
The Sentinel program has been a major success. So far it has blocked over 10,000 attacks that otherwise may have led to account compromise. Sentinel is available with Unlimited, Family, Visionary, and Business accounts(new window).
Admin controls
As an organization admin, you need the ability to secure your network, so we built new settings that let you better control your team. One such control is to enforce two-factor authentication (2FA) so that all your users are required to set up 2FA, which is one of the best defenses against hackers.
Another admin control feature we built is filter lists for organizations. This lets you create your own spam, block, and allow lists for incoming emails.
VPN for Business
Starting in 2021, we began to receive a huge increase in requests from businesses for VPN solutions. This was likely due to the increase in remote work and organizations realizing how important it is to secure access to their digital infrastructure.
In response to our community, we launched VPN for Business(new window) in 2023. These plans support dedicated IPs, dedicated servers, and access controls. Already, governments, international organizations, and Fortune 500 companies are using Proton VPN to protect networks of tens of thousands of users.
Looking forward
For 2024, we will continue to add new business features across Proton while improving the features mentioned above.
Above all, we would like to thank the tens of thousands of businesses and professionals who use Proton in their work. While we have always developed Proton based on feedback from our community, we pay a lot of attention to requests from business users. Working closely with you on these, we inevitably create improvements that also help millions of others who rely on Proton to defend their privacy. Thank you for your continued support and patience.
If your team needs the highest level of digital privacy and security and would like to migrate to Proton, please learn more at https://proton.me/business and contact our Sales team.
