The government-backed hackers exploited fake friends and family with spear-phishing lures, according to research published Wednesday.

ProtonMail received more than 3,500 orders from Swiss courts in 2020, up from 17 in 2017.

The Conti ransomware gang is behind the attack on Ireland's health care system, too.

Breaking encryption in Europe "will threaten the basic rights of millions," the companies argue.

Ben Bradshaw, who has spoken up about Russian interference in British politics, claimed to have received a malicious email that turned out to be benign.

The phishing methods are not new, but point to an effort to automate them at scale to target human rights activists, journalists and others.

ProtonMail is known for its focus on encryption, and that now extends to its mobile contacts manager.