The other day, Proton launched its very own password manager, simply called Proton Pass. Now in beta, it is available for Lifetime and Visionary users, with invites rolling out as we speak.
According to Proton, its users have requested such a feature ever since they first launched Proton Mail. Now those users are happy to know that Proton Pass will have their login credentials protected with end-to-end encryption while also delivering a few cool features. This, according to Proton, will become clear “over the next weeks and months” as they prepare Proton Pass for a public launch later this year.
The journey to Proton Pass started last year when Proton joined forces with SimpleLogin to bring millions of Proton users advanced Hide-my-email Aliases. Making logins more secure, more private, and easier was a core part of the original vision of SimpleLogin.
The merger united two organizations with the engineers from both companies developing Proton Pass.
As you probably already know, protecting your passwords is critical. If an attacker obtains your password, they can cause damage to your real life. In that sense, protecting your passwords properly requires a high level of competence with encryption and security, which few organizations have.
To that end, Proton Pass is dubbed as “not just another password manager” that uses end-to-end encryption to protect all fields, not just the password field — including the username, web address, and more.
Proton argues this is important because seemingly innocuous bits of information can be used to create a highly detailed profile on you.
Specifically, Proton Pass uses a strong bcrypt password hashing implementation (weak PBKDF2 implementations have made other password managers vulnerable) and a hardened implementation of Secure Remote Password (SRP) for authentication. Also, it is also one of the first password managers to include a fully integrated two-factor authenticator (2FA) and supports 2FA autofill. This is meant to make it easier to use 2FA everywhere since it’s one of the most effective safeguards for your online accounts.
Like other Proton services, Proton Pass will be open source and publicly auditable upon launch, so anyone can independently verify our security features and their implementation.
The Proton Pass beta is now available on iPhone/iPad, Android, and desktop, and so are browser extensions for Brave and Chrome. Firefox browser extension is coming shortly, as well.
Pros
Cons
- Easy to use apps for popular platforms
- Works with Netflix and Hulu
- Dedicated servers for Tor and torrenting
- There's a free version of the service
- No live chat support
- Doesn't work well with BBC iPlayer