While making a secure desktop client for ProtonMail alone shouldn't be difficult, this idea focuses on how to use ProtonMail Servers to add a layer of security to 3rd Party email providers.
If the ProtonMail server is used as an email client to receive 3rd Party email through POP3/IMAP4, those emails could be encrypted and stored on a ProtonMail server. But they would be encrypted by using the User's Public Key. Thus once received an encrypted, they cannot be opened by anyone else but the User himself.
Then the email could either be fetched by or pushed to the desktop client/Mobile app, which would decrypt the mail using the user's Private Key.
Advantages:
- If ProtonMail has it's own desktop client it could completely replace 3rd Party software. e.g. Outlook, Thunderbird.
- Desktop Client/Mobile App only needs to connect and authenticate to a single server. While receiving mail from multiple providers.
- Mail from otherwise insecure providers will now be encrypted before reaching the client's internet provider, thus protecting from client side surveillance. (Could be called a form of secure email tunnelling. Like VPN, but only for email.)
Disadvantages
- None to the client.
- Developers will need to implement further code to sort through multiple providers. I may be wrong, but this could be done by the desktop client after data has been decrypted.
Gb
While making a secure desktop client for ProtonMail alone shouldn't be difficult, this idea focuses on how to use ProtonMail Servers to add a layer of security to 3rd Party email providers.
If the ProtonMail server is used as an email client to receive 3rd Party email through POP3/IMAP4, those emails could be encrypted and stored on a ProtonMail server. But they would be encrypted by using the User's Public Key. Thus once received an encrypted, they cannot be opened by anyone else but the User himself.
Then the email could either be fetched by or pushed to the desktop client/Mobile app, which would decrypt the mail using the user's Private Key.
Advantages:
- If ProtonMail has it's own desktop client it could completely replace 3rd Party software. e.g. Outlook, Thunderbird.
- Desktop Client/Mobile App only needs to connect and authenticate to a single server. While receiving mail from multiple providers.
- Mail from otherwise insecure providers will now be encrypted before reaching the client's internet provider, thus protecting from client side surveillance. (Could be called a form of secure email tunnelling. Like VPN, but only for email.)
Disadvantages
- None to the client.
- Developers will need to implement further code to sort through multiple providers. I may be wrong, but this could be done by the desktop client after data has been decrypted.