Mailfence

Mailfence is an encrypted email service that offers OpenPGP based end-to-end encryption and digital signatures. It was launched in November 2013 by ContactOffice Group, which has been operating an online collaboration suite for universities and other organizations since 1999.[1]

Mailfence
Screenshot of Mailfence website, showing the user's inbox.
Type of site
Webmail
Available inEnglish, Spanish, French, German, Dutch and Portuguese
OwnerContactOffice Group
URLmailfence.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationRequired
Launched12 November 2013 (2013-11-12)
Current statusOnline
Content license
Proprietary

History

In the midst of 2013, the Mailfence project was started by the founders of ContactOffice. In March 2016, the company released the public BETA version of their end-to-end encryption and digital signatures for emails.[2]

Features

Mailfence provides secure email features, with other functions such as Calendar, Contacts, Documents and Collaboration.[3] Encryption and Two-factor authentication are available in the free version of the product. Most other features are only available with paid subscriptions that start at 2,50 € per month.

Email

The service supports POP/IMAP and Exchange ActiveSync[4] as well as vanity domains with SPF, DKIM, DMARC[5] and catch-all address support.[6][7] Users can send both plain and rich text emails, organize messages in folders and/or categorize them with tags, set default message signatures, create aliases and use plus addressing[8] to apply filters to inbound messages.

Contacts

The contacts support (CSV, vCard, LDIF) import, (vCard, PDF) export and can be accessed using CardDAV.[9] Users organize them with tags and can also create contact lists.

Calendar

The calendar supports vCal/iCal import, export and can be accessed by using CalDAV.[10] Users can share their calendars with group members and can also create polls.[11]

Documents

The documents can be accessed using WebDAV or edited online. Users can drag and drop files in folders and categorize them with tags.[12]

Groups

Groups allow users to share mailboxes, documents, contacts, calendars and perform instant chatting with group members in a secure way. A group administrator manages the access rights of group members and can also set another group member as co-admin or the main admin of the group.[13][14]

Web-based clients

The web-interface comes with an embedded IMAP, POP3, CalDAV, and WebDAV client. Users can add external accounts and manage them centrally in the web-interface.[15][16]

User management

Account owners can create and manage users using the admin console.[17]

Server location

Since their servers are located in Belgium,[18] they are legally outside of US jurisdiction. Mailfence is therefore not subjected to US gag orders and NSLs, notwithstanding extradition treaties with the US.[19][20] Under Belgian law, all national and international surveillance requests must go through a Belgian court.[21]

Security and privacy

Aside from conventional security and privacy features including TFA,[22] spam protection, sender address blacklisting and whitelisting, Mailfence offers following features:

End-to-end encryption

The service uses an open-source implementation of OpenPGP (RFC 4880).[23] Private keys are generated in the client-browser, encrypted (via AES256) with the user's passphrase, and then stored on the server.[24][25] The server never sees the user's passphrase. The service also supports end-to-end encryption using passwords with the possibility of message expiration.[26]

Digital signatures

The service gives the choice between "signing", or "signing and encrypting" an email message with or without attachments.[27]

Integrated Keystore

The service provides an integrated keystore to manage PGP keys,[28] and does not require any third-party add-on/plugin. OpenPGP keypairs can be generated, imported or exported.[29] Public keys of other users can be imported through file or in-line text or can be downloaded directly from Public key servers.[30]

Full OpenPGP interoperability

Users can communicate with any OpenPGP compatible service provider.[31]

Warrant canary and transparency report

The service maintains an up-to-date transparency report and warrant canary.[32][33]

See also

References
  1. "ContactOffice launch and users".
  2. "BETA launch of a pure end-to-end encrypted email solution that gives you full control". Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  3. Leonard, John. "Escape from Yahoo: Nine encrypted email alternatives". Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  4. Skjefstad, Vegard. "Secure and Private E-mail: A Provider Overview". Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  5. "Spoofing defense for Custom domains: SPF, DKIM, DMARC". Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  6. "Privacytools.io is a socially motivated website that provides information for protecting your data security and privacy". Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  7. "Mailfence Release Notes Dec 2017". Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  8. "Plus addressing to filter email". Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  9. "Mailfence Contacts: a secure contact management software". Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  10. "Mailfence Calendar: a secure online calendar to schedule, manage and track meetings & events". Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  11. "Mailfence Polls: simple and secure meeting scheduler". Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  12. "Mailfence Documents: secure file sharing, storage and collaboration". Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  13. "Mailfence Groups: secure group collaboration". Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  14. "Privacytools.io is a socially motivated website that provides information for protecting your data security and privacy". Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  15. "How to encrypt email with Gmail and Outlook.com or any other provider". Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  16. "POP3 vs IMAP vs Exchange ActiveSync. What's the difference?". Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  17. "Manage your users with the mailfence admin console". Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  18. "The Mailfence SSL/TLS Certificate". Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  19. "United States Extradition Treaty with Belgium".
  20. "United States Supplemental Extradition Treaty with Belgium".
  21. "Mailfence privacy policy". Archived from the original on 18 July 2014. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
  22. Davis, Josh. "Two Factor Auth (2FA)". Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  23. Sparrow, Elijah. "OpenTechFund/secure-email". Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  24. "Mailfence end-to-end encryption and digital signatures". Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  25. "The 3 Most Secure & Encrypted Email Providers Online". Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  26. "Password encrypted messages based on symmetric encryption". Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  27. Thomas, Mike. "A (mostly) In Depth Review of Mailfence". Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  28. Schürmann, Dominik. "OpenPGP Email encryption. For all operating systems. Standing the test of time". Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  29. Tschabitscher, Heinz. "Encrypted email services keep your messages private". Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  30. "Mailfence's OpenPGP keystore gives full control over key management". Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  31. "Encrypted email service providers". v. Archived from the original on 18 May 2016. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  32. "Transparency Report and Warrant Canary". Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  33. "Service review". Retrieved 20 February 2019.
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