"I think we should expect true privacy resources to encounter problems, and to encompass some inconvenience - because that's how real privacy commitment rolls."
After a sustained bout of disruptive DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks on the encrypted email provider Tutanota last week, questions are being asked about the reliability of such services. Although there's little doubt about the trust factor of the privacy-committed email services themselves, any interruption to access is a concern. So even if the access interruptions are the doing of malicious third parties, they can still damage a service's aura of reliability, and thus its trustworthiness.
WHY DO PRIVACY-PROTECTING EMAIL SERVICES SUFFER DDOS ATTACKS?
Tutanota is not the only private email service to have suffered persistent DDoS attacks. ProtonMail has also been subjected to two such successful assault campaigns, dating back to 2015, and 2018.
So why are these services targeted? Are the authorities trying to take them down in order to stop secret, subversive messaging? Is Silicon Valley organising against them because it fears losing its grip on the data-mining gravy train?