The internet is impossibly vast and intriguing. Whatever your interest in the world, someone is doing it and talking about it online. We live in an amazing time when people use pocket-sized devices to connect instantly with people across the globe.

But there’s a paradox at the heart of it: How can products facilitate all the expansive openness of the internet while simultaneously remaining closed against all its threats? Third-party web browsers can be problematic, no matter how much the providers may state otherwise.

Unfortunately, the Christmas holidays usually correspond with a surge in online scams. Indeed, the pandemic has also caused a massive uptick in things like phishing attempts.

It’s crucial to be vigilant against such threats, especially now. While it may seem like an overreaction in a world where it’s very common for people to browse the internet on their smartphones, don’t get lulled into a false sense of security.

Malicious, Exploited Websites

All it takes to expose a person’s entire system is one visit to an exploited website. Visiting the wrong website could turn up malicious JavaScript or simply a rogue pop-up, which, when clicked on, can allow attackers the entry point they need to access your sensitive information.

From there, they can easily read, modify, or delete the data. Uploading malware to the device is not hard to do. Once attackers have breached the outside gates, it’s a short step away from remotely lifting your messages, passwords, contact lists, and even private encryption keys.

In short, it doesn’t matter if you’re using an app boasting “end-to-end encryption” if the same device also has a web browser with unrestricted internet access. Specialists like hackers, researchers, and activists are always looking to be one step ahead of defensive measures. If there’s a loophole or an opening to exploit, they’ll find it, and they’ll usually do so before you have realized they have.

Usability Versus Protection

There’s a crucial and inevitable trade-off anyone who values privacy must consider: the greater access you give applications to browse the internet, the greater the risk you face. As soon as the scales tip away from security and towards usability, your system will be vulnerable.

Either a system is hermetically sealed against hackers, or it isn’t. That’s why end to end encryption is half the battle and not the full story. ChatMail Secure specializes in encryption and in filling in any other security gaps in the device.

Beware of Third-Party Apps

It should strike everybody as odd how third-party apps claim to offer security and encryption, even while making users agree to give them permission to access a considerable range of private information. Other apps provide one distinct service but ask for permissions that seem unrelated or abuse the trust placed in them. For example, a weather app understandably needs access to your location data but doesn’t need to sell this information to third-party marketers.

How secure can your private information be if other companies not only have access to your data but use it to sell to other entities without you even knowing? That’s why third party apps pose security risks on your phone and why the only way to have a genuinely secure platform is to keep all third-parties out of the equation entirely.

World-Leading Encryption Without Any Vulnerabilities

ChatMail specializes in data privacy solutions that prioritize security above everything. We never compromise your privacy.

The first level of security is world-class encryption that can only be read by the intended recipient because the key to decrypt the message never leaves their device. There are also essential features which fill in any gaps unaddressed by end-to-end encryption, including:

• Tamper Proof: optional duress passwords that wipe out all sensitive data if someone opens the phone without authorization.
• Self-Destructing Messages: messages, pictures, and notes can be set to self-destruct, even without a data connection. Such content can’t be forwarded, favorited or saved.
• Encrypted Cameras and Phone: The phone doesn’t store cached image data.
• Remote wipe and anti-theft protection.
• Optional Secondary PIN protection for your encrypted notebook.

ChatMail’s design gives users the highest security level possible, but the platform is also intuitive to navigate for everyday users with no technical expertise. Historically, secure phones were too complicated and clunky to use, while practical phones contained security vulnerabilities, but that is no longer the case.

Tamper Proof Servers

ChatMail has redesigned email storage so your confidential information can’t be compromised. More accurately, server storage of sensitive data has been removed altogether.

We are the sole owners of our data centre, meaning we have total control over 24/7 security. Owning our server also means there are no risks commonly associated with outsourcing storage to third-party data centres that could be following unknown procedures related to maintenance, back-up protocols, and physical access.

ChatMail operates in a democratic country that upholds human rights, citizens’ privacy, encryption laws, and due process. It’s easy to take such values for granted, but there are countries where internet freedom shrinks every year.

The point of real digital security isn’t to meet one technical standard of protection so that, for example, you can claim to offer “end-to-end encryption” in an ad without lying. The essential thing is to keep hackers, identity thieves or any other intruder away from your confidential information!

It doesn’t make sense to have device encryption that goes to these lengths to protect your confidential information only to download a third-party app that contains numerous vulnerabilities.

After a long and challenging year, spend the Christmas holidays with your immediate loved ones. You’re likely going to do some online shopping for gifts this year since medical experts recommend we stay home as much as possible to contain COVID-19. Do yourself a favour and never use a third-party internet browser on your phone for Ecommerce, or, really, for anything. Maximize your phone security by sticking to the ChatMail Secure platform.

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Articles used for reference: Source 1 and Source 2