Funding for research project on post-quantum cryptography acquired.

We are happy to announce that the Leibniz University Hanover and the secure email service Tutanota have jointly acquired EU funding for a research project in post-quantum cryptography. Cryptography experts estimate that quantum computers will be able to break widely used encryption algorithms in a few years. With the progress in developing quantum computers, it is time to future-proof Tutanota's encryption algorithms against potential attacks from quantum computers.

Tutanota currently uses AES and RSA to encrypt all emails between its users automatically end-to-end, which is similar to PGP. In five to 25 years, when quantum computers will be effective enough, most currently used algorithms can be easily broken by these innovative computers as calculation time will reduce tremendously.

PQmail - making Tutanota quantum-resistant

As Tutanota strives to build the most secure email service - now and in the future - we have started a research project together with the Leibniz University Hanover.

This poject, funded by the European Union, comprises several steps before quantum-resistant encryption algorithms can be used by all users:

Research into what algorithms are unbreakable by quantum computers.
Research into what algorithms are feasible to be used for encrypted emails.
Testing of the specified algorithms within Tutanota.
Roll-out of quantum-resistant encryption algorithms for all users.

Updating all encrypted emails

When updating encryption algorithms, users usually have to manually decrypt the data and then re-encrypt is with the new algorithms. This is the case, for example, when you are encrypting your emails with PGP.

As the aim of Tutanota is to offer secure emails to everyone, we strive to automate this process so that the user can update their algorithms without any hassle or any technical knowledge.

That’s what we call easy-to-use encrypted emails.