Configuring Secure Email
Clients
The Office of Information Technology recently underwent an audit. This legislative audit identified some account and password practices that OIT should strengthen. One practice we need to discontinue is allowing people to send their username and password unencrypted to a server.
We have plans to strengthen our e-mail security practices that will allow us to be in compliance with the legislative audit requirements. While much of this can be done centrally on our servers, the remainder must be completed on your local e-mail client (e.g. Outlook, Thunderbird etc.). We plan on making these changes permanent on May 25th, 2006.
Many UMBC account holders have some form of e-mail client installed on their PC or Mac computers. In order for you to utilize the increased security features we are requesting that you modify your e-mail client settings. In most cases this is very easy to do.
Use These Values to Configure Your Preferred Email Client |
When Mail asks you for the: |
It is looking for the: |
You Enter: |
Email Address |
Your "@umbc.edu." email address |
your_myUMBCid@umbc.edu* |
Incoming Server |
UMBC IMAP Server |
imap.umbc.edu
port 993 |
User name |
your mail account |
your_myUMBCid* |
Account Path Prefix |
IMAP directory path |
(leave blank!) |
Outgoing Server |
UMBC SMTP server |
smtp.umbc.edu
(TLS) port= 587 or (SSL) port = 465 |
Address server, Host name |
UMBC LDAP server |
directory.umbc.edu |
Address server, BaseDN |
LDAP search root |
dc=umbc, dc=edu |
* Where "your_myUMBCid" is replaced by your actual UMBC login name.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Will IMAP and POP be Going Away?
- How Soon Do I Need to Make These Changes?
- Which Machine Should I Change My E-mail Settings On?
- What Do I Do If I Don't Understand The Problem or Solution OIT is describing?
Step-by-Step Instructions
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Windows 98/ME |
Windows 2000/XP |
Mac OS Classic |
Mac OS X |
Webmail/Squirrel Mail |
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SSH Client |
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Thunderbird/Mozilla |
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Outlook |
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Outlook Express |
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Apple Mail |
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Eudora |
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Entourage |
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Opera |
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***Will IMAP and POP Be Going Away?***
No, they will still remain available for your use. The changes we are making will simply require e-mail clients to use the "Encrypted" version of IMAP and POP. Presently our mail server allows connections from both Encrypted and Unencrypted version of IMAP and POP. After May 25th, 2006 only Encrypted versions of IMAP and POP will be allowed.
*** How Soon Do I Need to Make These Changes?***
Don't be alarmed, you are not in imminent danger of being compromised. We are taking these steps as part of a campus wide security campaign. We plan on disabling Unencrypted IMAP and POP e-mail on May 25th, 2006. You have until this date to update your e-mail clients.
***Which Machine Should I Change My E-mail Settings On?***
Part of the challenge we face is identifying the machine or machines that you have connected from. This is important because your office machine may in fact be setup with the most recent security features while your home PC or Mac may not be. To help you identify which machine needs to have the e-mail client settings updated we have included the IP Address or domain name where you last connected from.
Don't worry if this is a little confusing for you. We are including this information only for those that may find it useful. If you are just not sure what this means then we recommend that you check the settings on all of the e-mail clients that you use.
Our e-mail to you should have something similar to the format below:
You are receiving this message because over the past week OIT mail
servers indicate you used an unencrypted "IMAP or POP HERE" email
client to access your myUMBC email account named:
"USERNAME HERE".
These logins occurred from the following host(s):
"HOST INFORMATION HERE"
***What Do I Do If I Don't Understand The Problem or Solution OIT is Describing?***
That is ok. We know this can be confusing. If you don't understand what to do you can forward this e-mail to the OIT Help Desk at helpdesk@umbc.edu Our staff will assist you in identifying the machine(s) that need to be changed. If they are campus machines we can have our Desktop Support staff schedule a time to make these changes for you. If it is a home machine our help desk staff will help guide you through the process.
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