Criptext is a free encrypted email service with open source apps for Windows, Linux,

[harlan4096]

Criptext is a free encrypted email service for Windows, Linux, macOS, Android and iOS. It has been around for a while, but I thought it may be worth looking into.

Before we get started, allow me to say that this article isn't about Criptext vs Protonmail, so we're not going to discuss which one's better. It's about what Criptext has to offer.

The applications for Criptext are open-source, but the servers are not. Then again neither is Protonmail's. (Okay, I know I just said I won't compare the two, but this is the only time I do it in the article).

Signal Protocol

There is something you should know about Criptext. It is not cloud-based like Gmail or Outlook; Criptext emails are not stored on servers permanently, they are only stored on your device using end-to-end encryption. It uses the Signal Protocol for this.

How does this work? According to the official documentation, Criptext passes the mail through their server for a moment and it's deleted once the mail is delivered. The only exception to this is when the message is un-deliverable; say when the recipient's device is offline. The email is stored on the server until it is delivered in this case. If it isn't delivered within 30 days, it's deleted from the server as well.

Encrypted mails

Criptext says that every email is encrypted with a unique key. Attachments are encrypted as well; they are stored on Criptext's Amazon Web Services servers though the encryption keys for those are saved on user devices.

The important thing to note here is that the service only encrypts mails sent by one Criptext user to another. So, if you use it to send mails to other services (Gmail, Outlook, etc), those will not be encrypted.

Tip: You can tell whether an email is encrypted or not, by looking for the padlock icon. If it has one, it's encrypted.

How to sign up for Criptext

You need to install the desktop program or the mobile app and use it to sign up. Once you do, the application begins creating the encryption/decryption keys for your account on your device.

Note: While signing up for an account, you can optionally enter a recovery email address. This is only required to reset the password of your account.

Testing the sign in process

Since the account credentials part is not cloud based, I wanted to see how I could sign in to an existing account on a new device. So, I disabled the internet on my laptop and tried to sign in to the same account on my phone. The mobile app prompted me to use the desktop client to approve the sign in, but it did offer an option to sign in with my password. Because I was testing the service, I used the desktop app's approval method to sign in. And it synced the account to my phone. This was unusual, but works fine.
...

Continue Reading