Proton, the firm behind the encrypted e-mail service ProtonMail, has announced several measures to assist people in fighting the coronavirus. The measures include expanding ProtonMail storage space for free, adding 52 more ProtonVPN servers in 17 countries to improve speeds, its e-mail and VPN products can be accessed freely by organisations fighting COVID-19, and it is donating computing resources to researchers studying the disease.
Commenting on the measures, Andy Yen, Founder and CEO of Proton, said:
“We are living through a situation that is unprecedented in modern history. In these times, the need for secure and private online communications is greater than ever, and we are committed to supporting both customers and non-customers in this time of need. We hope also that by donating the computing power of our Zurich datacenter to science, we can accelerate the search for a cure which can end this pandemic.”
According to the firm, the additional servers will be distributed across Europe and the Americas because these regions are “currently the most heavily impacted by the virus.” For any organisation fighting COVID-19 that wants to utilise the new VPN servers and ProtonMail, an application should be sent to enterprise+covid@protonmail.com where it will be assessed.
The computing resources mentioned earlier will be used by the Rosetta@home project. Rosetta@home is currently sending work units out to computers all around the world in order to predict the atomic-scale structure of important coronavirus proteins which will ultimately assist in the development of vaccines and drugs for the virus.