5 ms·

I'd be pretty shocked if any ProtonMail users used IE.

by jumbopapa 7y ago

realusername 7y ago
Yes that seems a pretty odd combination, you want more secure email but using IE11 at the same time?
- tux1968 7y ago
  Wouldn't be surprising to find that security conscious people are more apt to alter their user agent string or have a plugin that rotates it often to counter fingerprinting. There are probably fewer genuine IE11 users than what is being detected.
  - gruez 7y ago
    >or have a plugin that rotates it often to counter fingerprinting That's not going to fool any competent fingerprinting scripts. Blink/webkit/gecko have different javascript implementations so it's easy to cross-check whether your user agent header matches your "real" user agent. The only thing you're really going to fool are server side logs for user agent. If anything, using user agent spoofer is an entropy source (makes you stick out more) because most people don't spoof their user agent.
    - tux1968 7y ago
      You don't have to convince me, I agree. But the fact remains i'm pretty sure it accounts for some number of the reported IE11 users.
    - bduerst 7y ago
      Rotating the agent alone, right, but it's part of a larger set of tools usually. I don't think anyone is implying that security conscious users are only doing that.
    - ukyrgf 7y ago
      Which is all good in the browser, but the access logs are still going to say Internet Explorer.
- rakoo 7y ago
  On the contrary, you could take the WhatsApp stance and say that everyone deserves a more secure email platform, not just those who know enough about technology to know that the default browser is not good enough. Not saying it's an easy task, of course, but that could be a goal for protonmail.
- ljm 7y ago
  Until IE11 becomes so obscure that people stop scanning it for exploits!
jaden 7y ago
The typical scenario is forced use by enterprises where the employees have no choice. But now that Windows 7 is on its last legs, this may be less of an issue.
- baud147258 7y ago
  You can have IE 11 on Windows 10. It's what I have, since the software we're working on use ActivX (to communicate with card reader software on the client machine); we should finally move to Chrome this year.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
jsnell 7y ago
It's the first bullet point in their reasons for dropping the support. About 1% of their users are on IE.
- mbell 7y ago
  On average IE 11 is around 2% in the US, obviously it'll vary based on the type of site but I would have expected ProtonMail to be even lower.
- sbr464 7y ago
  Since there are so many users with browsers, I'd be curious if data is available that filters out consumer users/residential IP addresses etc. To better understand business browser usage and get more usable percentage figures.

I'd be pretty shocked if any ProtonMail users used IE.

realusername 7y ago

Yes that seems a pretty odd combination, you want more secure email but using IE11 at the same time?

tux1968 7y ago
Wouldn't be surprising to find that security conscious people are more apt to alter their user agent string or have a plugin that rotates it often to counter fingerprinting. There are probably fewer genuine IE11 users than what is being detected.
- gruez 7y ago
  >or have a plugin that rotates it often to counter fingerprinting That's not going to fool any competent fingerprinting scripts. Blink/webkit/gecko have different javascript implementations so it's easy to cross-check whether your user agent header matches your "real" user agent. The only thing you're really going to fool are server side logs for user agent. If anything, using user agent spoofer is an entropy source (makes you stick out more) because most people don't spoof their user agent.
  - tux1968 7y ago
    You don't have to convince me, I agree. But the fact remains i'm pretty sure it accounts for some number of the reported IE11 users.
  - bduerst 7y ago
    Rotating the agent alone, right, but it's part of a larger set of tools usually. I don't think anyone is implying that security conscious users are only doing that.
  - ukyrgf 7y ago
    Which is all good in the browser, but the access logs are still going to say Internet Explorer.
rakoo 7y ago
On the contrary, you could take the WhatsApp stance and say that everyone deserves a more secure email platform, not just those who know enough about technology to know that the default browser is not good enough. Not saying it's an easy task, of course, but that could be a goal for protonmail.
ljm 7y ago
Until IE11 becomes so obscure that people stop scanning it for exploits!

jaden 7y ago

The typical scenario is forced use by enterprises where the employees have no choice. But now that Windows 7 is on its last legs, this may be less of an issue.

baud147258 7y ago
You can have IE 11 on Windows 10. It's what I have, since the software we're working on use ActivX (to communicate with card reader software on the client machine); we should finally move to Chrome this year.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]

jsnell 7y ago

It's the first bullet point in their reasons for dropping the support. About 1% of their users are on IE.

mbell 7y ago
On average IE 11 is around 2% in the US, obviously it'll vary based on the type of site but I would have expected ProtonMail to be even lower.
sbr464 7y ago
Since there are so many users with browsers, I'd be curious if data is available that filters out consumer users/residential IP addresses etc. To better understand business browser usage and get more usable percentage figures.