Indian government moves to ban ProtonMail after bomb threat

What do you want to know

• The Indian government’s Ministry of Information technology has issued an order to block ProtonMail in the region.
• The move comes after a bomb threat was sent to schools in Chennai via a ProtonMail account.
• ProtonMail is still active in the country at the time of writing, but it remains to be seen whether this will continue to be the case.

ProtonMail is the best choice if you want an end-to-end encrypted email platform, and the nature of the service means it’s inevitably used by bad actors. On February 8, a bomb threat was sent to 13 schools in Chennai, a city in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The threat turned out to be a hoax and Tamil Nadu police discovered that the email was sent through a ProtonMail account.

Unable to trace the sender’s IP address and failing to get help from Interpol, Tamil Nadu police asked India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information technology to block access to ProtonMail in the country, according to Hindustan Times. That request was granted today, with government authorities issuing an order to block service to the area.

Enforcement will be carried out by the Department of Telecommunications, which will likely result in the removal of ProtonMail from the App Store and Play Store. That said, the website is still working at the time of writing and the app is listed on both storefronts. This is not the first time that the Indian government has attacked the Swiss company Proton AG. Proton VPN withdrew its servers from the country following a controversial 2022 decision by the Indian government requiring providers to keep usage logs.

As for the ProtonMail ban, Proton AG sent a statement to Hindustan Times that he was working with the government on this issue. “We are currently working to resolve this situation and are considering how best to work with the Indian authorities to achieve this. We understand the urgency of the situation and are absolutely clear that our services should not be used for illegal purposes. We regularly remove users who do this and who are ready to cooperate as much as possible under international cooperation agreements.

The government’s decision is in line with recent policy targeting services with end-to-end encryption. Many encrypted apps were blocked early last year, including Threema, Element, Wickrme and Safeswiss, and the government is going after them. technology/gadgets/govt-may-enforce-it-rules-on-whatsapp-to-reveal-id-of-fake-video-spreader-2728346″ data-url=”https://www.deccanherald.com/technology/gadgets/govt-may-enforce-it-rules-on-whatsapp-to-reveal-id-of-fake-video-spreader-2728346″>WhatsApp will disable end-to-end encryptionalthough it’s unclear exactly how this would work.

Proton AG clearly agrees with this sentiment, as it told HT: “We condemn a potential blockade as an ill-advised measure that only serves to harm ordinary people. Blocking access to Proton is an ineffective and inappropriate response to reported threats. will not prevent cybercriminals from sending threats with another email service and will not be effective if the perpetrators are located outside India.

I’ll share an update once there are more details, but if you’re using ProtonMail in India, there’s a good chance the service will be inaccessible.