Nowadays, most SMEs business in Malaysia relies on cloud services such as webmail to operate seamlessly. Email for business is an essential communication tool for organizations.
Self-hosted email servers are complex to properly set up. Not only you have to ensure 100% email deliverability rate to the recipient inboxes but to handle spam, phishing and virus (attachment).
A proper setup will cost you around RM1,000 or more for a period of time that includes email server security and hosting. By having a self-hosted email server for business, you will also have to ensure that you have a clean IP address that is not blacklisted, and you may be required to purchase dedicated IP.
If you’re familiar with Roundcube webmail (from cPanel or Plesk) and Google Workspace (formerly known as G-suite) email for business, Proton Mail may be the best fit as an alternative to them.
In this topic, we will discuss how Proton Mail services helps you to streamline your business.
Let’s dive in.
Proton Mail
Proton Mail is a freemium webmail service that offers end-to-end encryption and zero-access encryption ensure only you can see your emails. Not even Proton can view the content of your emails and attachments. Proton founded in 2013, headquartered in Plan-les-Ouates, Switzerland.
Pricing plan
If you’re considering using free business email in Malaysia, feel free to sign-up and try Proton Mail free plan. You will be amazed at how easy-to-use their webmail is and upgrade later anytime when your business grows to support more user account for your employees.
- Individual plan: RM20.00~ (USD 3.99)
- Business plan: RM33.00~ (USD 6.99)
Price with USD conversion as of 27 April 2024.
Features
If you subscribe to Proton for Business plan, you will have access to Proton Mail, Proton Calendar, Proton Drive (Cloud storage), Proton VPN and Proton Pass (Password manager) which can be configured to share within your organization.
Proton Mail
- Fully secured with end-to-end encryption:
Proton Mail’s encryption means that nobody but you can read the messages in your mailbox. In fact, not even Proton Mail has the ability to read your messages. Advanced encryption with AES-256 encryption, 4096-bit RSA key exchange, PGP and in highly secured data centers. - Migrate to Proton easily using Easy Switch:
Easy Switch is a tool that safely transfers your emails, calendars, and contacts from an external email account to Proton Mail. Your email messages and other data are encrypted the moment they arrive in your Proton Mail inbox, making the transition to a Proton easy and risk free. - Custom email domain:
You can create email addresses with your own domain name in Proton Mail, such as yourname@yourdomain.com, to send and receive messages. Best for business to look professionalism. - Manage users account within organization:
You (administrator) will be able to manage users accounts in your organization. You can add multiple users to your organization depending on your subscription package. - Security and privacy:
Hassle free from trackers in your inbox and PhishGuard to handle spam and phishing. - Proton Mail Bridge:
Use Proton Mail with your desktop email client. It adds end-to-end encryption to popular email apps, including Outlook, Thunderbird, and Apple Mail. Secure email made easy.
- Migrate to Proton easily using Easy Switch:
Easy Switch is a tool that safely transfers your emails, calendars, and contacts from an external email account to Proton Mail. Your email messages and other data are encrypted the moment they arrive in your Proton Mail inbox, making the transition to a Proton easy and risk free.
Proton Calendar
- Proton Calendar allows everyone to securely organize their events and appointments:
All events are automatically and seamlessly encrypted, with no extra steps needed. Proton Calendar is another step in our fight to make the internet a more private and secure place. - Synchronize events:
All your events are automatically synchronized and updated across all your apps and devices so that you can remain on top of your schedule from anywhere. - Multi-platform support:
Proton Calendar is currently available as a web app on your browser and the Android app is in beta. A native app for iOS is next on their development roadmap.
Proton Drive
- Share cloud storage within organization:
Proton Drive makes encrypted cloud storage easy, enabling everyone to store and send files online without compromising their privacy. No technical knowledge is needed; Proton Drive handles all the encryption automatically. - Send or provide downloadable large file at ease with secure file sharing:
Allow you to secure file sharing with anyone including non-Proton users via an end-to-end encrypted, password protected link. - Storage size allocation:
As administrator, you can invite new users to your organization and allocate cloud storage as required.
Proton VPN
- Secure your organization internet connection:
Proton secure VPN sends your internet traffic through an encrypted VPN tunnel to keep your browsing data safe, even over public or untrusted internet connections. - Kill switch and always-on VPN:
In the event that you lose connection with the VPN server, kill switch blocks all network traffic, while always-on automatically re-establishes a connection to a VPN server. - NetShield (Ad-Blocker):
Protects you from malware, invasive ads, and prevents website trackers from monitoring your browsing activity. - Highest VPN speed:
Keeping your work safe and on time with high speed with no data limits.
Proton Pass
- Hide-my-email aliases:
Proton Pass protects your identity with an integrated email alias feature. Whenever you sign up for a new online account, Proton Pass can automatically create an alias to keep your actual email address protected. - Passkeys supported:
Passkeys are supported across all devices in Proton Pass. This enables you to securely access your account with the use of cryptographic key pairs for phishing-resistant sign-in security, and bypassing passwords. - Sign in faster with Proton Pass:
Proton Pass recognizes the websites and apps you use and autofills forms with your credentials for you on any browser or device. No need to copy and paste. - Built-in encrypted notes:
With encrypted notes, you can easily save private notes, credit card numbers, and other personal information that only you can access on all your devices. - Available anywhere you need it:
Proton Pass has apps for Android and iPhone, Windows app and browser extension.
Self-hosted email server vs Hosted email server such as Proton Mail
While self-hosting requires you to look for other third-party services such as email server security, Proton service comes with high-end encryption to protect from spam, phishing and threats at single price. In fact, you will require to maintain and update your email server for security patch but not with hosted email server which is fully managed by experts.
Should you switch to or start with Proton?
Your business generate revenue, compromised server can cause major issues to your business operation such as data leaks and data loss, technically complex to recover. Small investment may be beneficial for your business journey in the long run by keeping users within your organization safe and reduce the risk of unwanted events.
Considerations
Here are few key take away on how Proton Mail for Business can align with your organization:
- 15 email addresses per-user
- Support up to 10 custom email domains
- Calendar sharing
- 500 GB of secure cloud storage per-user
This feature is suitable for sole-proprietor and small-medium enterprise size.
Based on business plan.
Conclusions
You may put security as consideration to invest as long it align with your budget, requirements and business needs.
Here at VETTER, we highly recommend our clients to use hosted webmail services for security reasons and to keep your employees happy.
We aim to be the best website design in Malaysia by providing affordable web design solutions for SMEs in Malaysia and applying essentials security practice in designing websites and optimize for fast-loading website speed. Need a website for your business? Check out our pricing plan.
If your business website is currently running on WordPress, use free WordPress Analysis and Security Scan tool to test vulnerability of your website with hackertarget.com
