Security News > 2020 > March > ProtonMail, ProtonVPN Will Use Alternative Routing to Bypass Censorship
Over the coming weeks, a new alternative routing feature will become available across all of the ProtonMail and ProtonVPN mobile and desktop applications, the company says.
"While we have largely been able to overcome censorship and attacks, it's imperative that we remain one step ahead of those who would seek to spy on people and restrict the freedom of information. Alternative routing is an additional capability which helps us ensure users can access our services," Proton says.
Alternative routing, the company explains, involves the use of third-party infrastructure and networks, including those of companies such as Amazon, Cloudflare and Google.
Alternative routing will only be used in rare instances and is optional, the company explains.
To make alternative routing work, ProtonMail also customized the TLS encryption protocol, using public key pinning instead of relying on certificate authorities to authenticate servers, which could become a problem if the company's servers are compromised.