New ProtonMail Beta Introduces Persistent Single Sign-On

Last updated July 14, 2021
Written by:
Bill Toulas
Bill Toulas
Infosec Writer
Source: ProtonMail

ProtonMail has announced the launch of a new beta version of the ProtonMail for web, which introduces persistent “Single Sign-On.” This is a feature to combine security with user comfort, two things that rarely find common ground without compromising one another. To achieve this, the ProtonMail team has completely rewritten the programming framework that links its apps. In addition to this new feature, the new beta brings multi-account access, subfolders, and the first deployment of the ‘ProtonDrive,’ which will be made available to Lifetime account users.

So, starting from this new version, users will be able to sign in to their Proton accounts, close their browser, and then return to one of the company’s products at a later time and enjoy instant access without having to sign in again. This persistence lasts for 30 days for security reasons, so if you are worried about others accessing your account, logging out should be standard practice now each time you have to go AFK. For your home computer and strictly personal systems, though, this new feature is an amazing time-saver.

The Single Sign-On means that you sign in to your Proton account once, and then you can access ProtonMail, ProtonContacts, and ProtonCalendar without having to enter your credentials again. The ProtonVPN product was left out of the inclusion for reasons of additional security and stronger censorship resistance.

The arrival of the ‘ProtonDrive’ product comes after months of vigorous internal testing, and it’s expected to complement Proton’s portfolio with a way to store stuff on the cloud. Being a Proton product, there’s strong encryption involved, as well as a tight access permission model. While it’s only available to Lifetime account holders for the moment, it will be gradually rolled out to the Visionary users, and eventually to all paying users.

ProtonDrive

As for the multi-account access and the subfolders, these are again to help manage Proton accounts more comfortably, as well as to get to enjoy higher levels of productivity on the platform. The Subfolders will be made available to free users of the ProtonMail, allowing the setting of up to three levels of depth. The multi-account feature doesn’t involve any number limits, so no matter how many Proton accounts you need to bounce between, you can now do it seamlessly.

All of the above combined make Proton’s platform a lot more user-friendly while not compromising user safety, privacy, and security. Hopefully, we will see these features exiting beta soon, and working as promised and expected.



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