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Private mail experience
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Private mail experience

Has anyone else been using CTemplar too? Any thoughts about it?

I was a ProtonMail user for a very long time, but a while ago I saw CTemplar, which is hosted on Iceland, well known for their privacy laws.

I decided to move my stuff to there and I haven't looked back.

Lately, they have been recently targeted with DDoS which is very bad to a relatively young company. But, they were quick to address and let the community know.

Their fairly email is simple to use, it works and it's quick.

I've used both iOS and android apps. They both have some bugs, but they have been progressing quite well, and I haven't found anything deal-breaking. I just had to submit them to support.

Support is very responsive. There was no issue I had that went unaddressed.

In regards to social media, they are most active on Reddit. I made a temporary Reddit account just to ask for an invite. But I think you can email them, too.

They also post some interesting articles in their blog page.

So far, I've been quite happy with their service and I'll be upgrading my account soon.

Has anyone else been using this provider?

Comments

  • No, but I use MXroute and it is prem... ❤️

    Thanked by 2hyperblast FrankZ
  • jarjar Patron Provider, Top Host, Veteran

    Don't store anything on someone else's computer that you don't want made public. Everyone agreed Switzerland was a great place for privacy and many still think it is, and yet the CIA were posted up right there: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/national-security/cia-crypto-encryption-machines-espionage/

    You don't know what you don't know, and by the time you know it's too late. The only thing you can know is what you control.

    Thanked by 3FrankZ devp OpenNet
  • MannDudeMannDude Host Rep, Veteran

    Your only posts on this site are about CTemplar.

    But to answer your question, no, I've not used them.

    Thanked by 1devp
  • I will say ProtonMail is still good, I use both ProtonMail and MXroute.

  • ArkasArkas Moderator

    @jar said: You don't know what you don't know, and by the time you know it's too late. The only thing you can know is what you control

    And sometimes you don't know even that.

    Thanked by 1jar
  • @MannDude said:
    Your only posts on this site are about CTemplar.

    But to answer your question, no, I've not used them.

    You're correct! I'm just looking for feedback.

  • pikepike Veteran

    @jar said:
    Don't store anything on someone else's computer that you don't want made public. Everyone agreed Switzerland was a great place for privacy and many still think it is, and yet the CIA were posted up right there: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/national-security/cia-crypto-encryption-machines-espionage/

    You don't know what you don't know, and by the time you know it's too late. The only thing you can know is what you control.

    To be fair one has to admit the swiss supposedly didn't know Siemens was acting as shell company for BND and CIA.

    Thanked by 2jar skorous
  • MaouniqueMaounique Host Rep, Veteran
    edited October 2021

    @pike said: To be fair one has to admit the swiss supposedly didn't know Siemens was acting as shell company for BND and CIA.

    Anon app was also used by FBI iirc, you can never know who is controlling little companies, even when they do not wish to submit, can be coerced. Best is self-hosted, if you don't need much interaction with big tech (since residential IPs are blocked, albeit you can buy company ones if you like, at least my provider offers that).
    In extremis, you can buy a VPS with a clean provider (prometeus :P) and relay through there all external mails barring the list of friends which are also self-hosting.

  • ip addresses and privacy hahahahahha

  • MaouniqueMaounique Host Rep, Veteran
    edited October 2021

    @darw said: ip addresses and privacy hahahahahha

    privacy=/=anonymity.
    Privacy is when third parties can't read your mail, anonymity is when they wont know it is from you.
    In theory, end-to-end encryption would solve the privacy issue as long as you are absolutely sure the provider has no backdoors installed or can't be forced to install them in the future. That is something beyond your control (unless you use some PGP scheme), so you should run own server(s) in your own premises (they still need a warrant to take them from your home) and communicate encrypted with the server(s) (this kind of encryption is entirely under your control).

  • @Maounique said:

    @darw said: ip addresses and privacy hahahahahha

    privacy=/=anonymity.

    Where does "=/=" meaning NOT EQUAL come from? That seems unintuitive and confusing to what I've learned "!=".

  • @TimboJones said:

    @Maounique said:

    @darw said: ip addresses and privacy hahahahahha

    privacy=/=anonymity.

    Where does "=/=" meaning NOT EQUAL come from? That seems unintuitive and confusing to what I've learned "!=".

    Why not just write "≠"? :smile:

    (Aren't we all supposed to be Unicode-ready?)

    Thanked by 1TimboJones
  • arsendarsend Member
    edited October 2021

    tl;dr run your own email server with a clean IP, and with DKIM/SPF setup correctly. You'll pass all anti-spam systems in 99% of cases. My email server, which is only a few months old was able to go into the inbox of M$ users, on the first day.

  • jarjar Patron Provider, Top Host, Veteran
    edited October 2021

    @arsend said: My email server, which is only a few months old was able to go into the inbox of M$ users, on the first day.

    Better hang on to that IP. Don't let that make you think later that you can save a few dollars, move somewhere cheaper, and repeat it. A lot of people struggle with that specific thing without resolution. Clean everywhere else doesn't mean clean with MS.

    Thanked by 1arsend
  • @jar said: Don't let that make you think later that you can save a few dollars, move somewhere cheaper, and repeat it.

    Funnily enough, that VPS is very cheap monthly, but the provider doesn't allow outbound SMTP, RDP, etc., until they've verified your information.

    Thanked by 1jar
  • I've heard of CTemplar but they're kind of expensive in my opinion. I would just stick to Simplelogin that routes mails to my server, or somewhere else but with PGP encryption enabled on Simplelogin.

  • @arsend said:
    tl;dr run your own email server with a clean IP, and with DKIM/SPF setup correctly. You'll pass all anti-spam systems in 99% of cases. My email server, which is only a few months old was able to go into the inbox of M$ users, on the first day.

    Which provider?

  • jarjar Patron Provider, Top Host, Veteran

    @dosai said:

    @arsend said:
    tl;dr run your own email server with a clean IP, and with DKIM/SPF setup correctly. You'll pass all anti-spam systems in 99% of cases. My email server, which is only a few months old was able to go into the inbox of M$ users, on the first day.

    Which provider?

    Share that privately, spammers pass through here routinely and one good liar with a few hours to run can drop a /24 down a peg.

    Thanked by 3arsend dosai b0lt
  • Daniel15Daniel15 Veteran
    edited October 2021

    @Maounique said: Privacy is when third parties can't read your mail,

    Email, by definition, passes through servers that you don't control though. You could host your own email server in some data center that's locked down with secure physical access, but in the end you're likely still emailing someone that uses an AOL account with a password of "Password!"

    Downgrade attacks are fairly trivial with email server connections, particularly when using opportunistic encryption (STARTTLS) or when the connection isn't forced to be encrypted (ie. both server and client mandate that the connection MUST be encrypted) as the person doing the MitM attack could just send a response saying that the server doesn't support encryption, and the sending server will happily send everything in plaintext.

    @arsend said: tl;dr run your own email server with a clean IP, and with DKIM/SPF setup correctly. You'll pass all anti-spam systems in 99% of cases.

    I run my own mail server, but making Microsoft's servers happy is just too hard, so I use MXRoute purely for outbound sending and use my own server just for receiving.

  • @Daniel15 said: I run my own mail server, but making Microsoft's servers happy is just too hard, so I use MXRoute purely for outbound sending and use my own server just for receiving.

    Weird, I use a combo of hetzner cloud + a local provider I'd prefer not to mention.

    @jar said:

    @dosai said:

    @arsend said:
    tl;dr run your own email server with a clean IP, and with DKIM/SPF setup correctly. You'll pass all anti-spam systems in 99% of cases. My email server, which is only a few months old was able to go into the inbox of M$ users, on the first day.

    Which provider?

    Share that privately, spammers pass through here routinely and one good liar with a few hours to run can drop a /24 down a peg.

    Correct. Spammers are a pain, but they do make for interesting conversations, if you find where they are hiding :)

  • dahartigandahartigan Member
    edited October 2021

    @arsend said:
    Weird, I use a combo of hetzner cloud + a local provider I'd prefer not to mention.

    Is that the same binary lane instance you use for underserver.net also?

    @arsend said:
    Correct. Spammers are a pain, but they do make for interesting conversations, if you find where they are hiding :)

    Hiding in plain sight it seems!

  • Daniel15Daniel15 Veteran
    edited October 2021

    @arsend said: Weird, I use a combo of hetzner cloud + a local provider I'd prefer not to mention.

    I'm mainly using HostHatch who now require users to explicitly ask to open port 25 and they monitor it fairly closely. My IP has never been on any blocklists, and even UCEProtect Level 3 is clean (not even a single bad IP in Hosthatch's entire ASN), yet Microsoft just doesn't like it. I just think that I don't send enough email for them to even register it as a clean IP.

  • @Daniel15 said: I just think that I don't send enough email for them to even register it as a clean IP.

    IP history might play a part. The range might've been used for spam back in the day, possibly.

  • jarjar Patron Provider, Top Host, Veteran

    @Daniel15 said:

    @arsend said: Weird, I use a combo of hetzner cloud + a local provider I'd prefer not to mention.

    I'm mainly using HostHatch who now require users to explicitly ask to open port 25 and they monitor it fairly closely. My IP has never been on any blocklists, and even UCEProtect Level 3 is clean (not even a single bad IP in Hosthatch's entire ASN), yet Microsoft just doesn't like it. I just think that I don't send enough email for them to even register it as a clean IP.

    Volume is definitely relevant. I suspect that wonderful IP used by @arsend is in the same /24 as other IPs that send quality mail.

  • FrankZFrankZ Veteran
    edited October 2021

    @Daniel15 said: I run my own mail server, but making Microsoft's servers happy is just too hard, so I use MXRoute purely for outbound sending and use my own server just for receiving.

    I was doing the same until a few weeks ago when I started getting

    AUTH dialogue
    535 Incorrect authentication data
    DATA
    550-Verification failed for <[email protected]>
    550-No Such User Here
    550 Sender verify failed
    

    Now I am just using a good IP like OP.

    What did you change on "friday" @jar ?
    EDIT: that may have come off as rude, sorry about that.

  • jarjar Patron Provider, Top Host, Veteran
    edited October 2021

    @FrankZ said:

    @Daniel15 said: I run my own mail server, but making Microsoft's servers happy is just too hard, so I use MXRoute purely for outbound sending and use my own server just for receiving.

    I was doing the same until a few weeks ago when I started getting

    AUTH dialogue
    535 Incorrect authentication data
    DATA
    550-Verification failed for <[email protected]>
    550-No Such User Here
    550 Sender verify failed
    

    What did you change on "friday" @jar ?
    EDIT: that may have come off as rude, sorry about that.

    Nothing. It's usually something neighboring what's described in these:

    https://mxroute.com/docs/no-such-recipient-here/

    https://mxroute.com/docs/sender-verify-failed/

    I'll place my bet that you're sending to a domain listed in /etc/localdomains but expecting the domain to receive email elsewhere. For cpanel that means removing the domain or changing it to Remote on the Email Routing page.

    Thanked by 1FrankZ
  • FrankZFrankZ Veteran
    edited October 2021

    Thanks @jar, it's fixed. I was sending from an email listed in /etc/localdomains to a [email protected]. Changing the sending domain to "Remote Mail Exchanger" in the Email Routing page fixed it. /hijack

    Thanked by 1jar
  • MaouniqueMaounique Host Rep, Veteran

    @TimboJones said: Where does "=/=" meaning NOT EQUAL come from? That seems unintuitive and confusing to what I've learned "!=".

    I learned math in the mid 80's and got my first spectrum clone in 1989. Math at school came first :P

    @Daniel15 said: Email, by definition, passes through servers that you don't control though.

    Everything passes through routers you dont control but this doesnt mean you can't encrypt the flow (properly).

    @Daniel15 said: but in the end you're likely still emailing someone that uses an AOL account with a password of "Password!"

    I wasn't thinking of such a scenario, this is from home server to home server or mail for all family and friends/group seeking privacy hosted at home on same server and won't leave it. If you have to send to random people, of course you know you can't expect privacy, not least because they can be forced to reveal the contents, but that is a problem in any kind of setup.

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