Using SCS Mail securely from off-campus

Introduction

As you may have noticed, it seems impossible to send E-mail through the FIU-SCS mail server (smtp.cs.fiu.edu) from off-campus networks. The reason for this is that if you can send E-mail from off-campus, so can anyone else, and this can be used to send spam through our departmental mail server. This restriction stops spam, but can annoy users, especially those on laptops, who roam to different networks.

We have recently enabled SMTP-AUTH/SSL to allow you to securely send mail from an off-campus network. Using this feature is simple, and once you set it up, you'll be able to send E-mail to any address in the world through smtp.cs.fiu.edu on any network you may be on. Note that if you need additional help with this, feel free to contact us at request@cs.fiu.edu.

Our mail server also supports SSL-encrypted IMAP and POP3 access for your mail. We strongly recommend that you use these protocols to read your mail as well.

How to set it up

The setup procedure varies by client; here are instructions on how to set up SMTP-AUTH/SSL on several popular E-mail clients:

• Mozilla Thunderbird
• Microsoft Outlook 2003
• Apple's Mail.app

Mozilla Thunderbird

This is a full-featured, cross-platform mail client. We highly recommend that you use it instead of the others listed here. Thunderbird is available here.

• Go to the "Edit" menu, and pick "Account Settings"
• Select "Outgoing Server (SMTP)" as shown below:

• Server name should be "smtp.cs.fiu.edu"
• Port should be 587 (submission port)
• Check "Use name and password"
• Enter your FIU-SCS Username in the "User Name" text box.
• Under "Use Secure Connection", choose the "TLS" radio button.
• Click on "Server Settings" as shown below:

• Check "Use secure connection (SSL)"
• Make sure "Use secure authentication" is NOT checked. Secure authentication is already ensured by SSL.
• Make sure the Server name is "imap.cs.fiu.edu" and the port is "993".
• Click the "Advanced..." button.
• For "Maximum number of server connections to cache", type in 5 or less.
• Click OK to dismiss the Advanced dialog.
• Click OK to save the settings.

At this point, you should be able to read your mail, and send a test E-mail. Thunderbird will ask you for a password; enter your SCS mail password; the mail message should go through.

Microsoft Outlook

Note that we recommend against the use of this client, as it has a poor security track record. However, if you insist on using it at all costs, here's how to set up SMTP-AUTH/SSL:

• Go to the "Tools" menu, and pick "E-mail Accounts"
• Select "View or change existing e-mail accounts" and click "Next"
• Select your FIU-SCS account in the list, and click "Change..."
• Click the "More Settings..." button.
• Under the "Outgoing Server" tab, check "My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication":

• Select "Use same settings as my incoming mail server" and make sure "Log on using Secure Password Authentication" is not checked.
• Go to the "Advanced" tab. Enter 465 for the "Outgoing server (SMTP)" port number.
• Make sure "This server requires an encrypted connection (SSL)" under Outgoing Server is checked. The window should look like this:

• Make sure that your Incoming Server (IMAP) port is set to 993, and that "This server requires an encrypted connection (SSL) is checked.
• Click OK to save the settings.
• Click "Next", then "Finish".

At this point, you should be able to send a test E-mail. Note that Outlook does use a slightly different method of SMTP over SSL than other clients, which is why you have to use port 465.

Apple's "Mail.app"

This is a nice client, but if you also use platforms besides MacOS X, you may want to use Thunderbird, as it runs on several platforms and will thus be easier to use when switching platforms.

• Go to the "Mail" menu, and pick "Preferences"
• Under the "Account Information" tab, on the bottom where it says "Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP)", click "Server Settings..." You will see this:

• Set the server port to 587, and check "Use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)"
• Make sure Authentication is set to "Password" and then enter your FIU-SCS mail username and password.
• Click "OK" and close the Preferences dialog.

You should now be able to send a test E-mail. You will be asked for a password; enter your SCS mail password and the E-mail should go through.