[ale] OT: SMTP/POP3 Password Encryption

hbbs at attbi.com hbbs at attbi.com
Thu May 22 08:56:21 EDT 2003


Heh, *I* am not the one who needs the introduction!

I think that for the vast majority of ISP mail situations, the e-mail traffic
(to include un/pw pairs) run to and from the mail server in the clear and the
security - such as it is - comes from not having that traffic run anywhere and
everywhere.  The flaw in this, of course, is that there's a wide-open
vulnerability everywhere that it *does* run.  

The moral being, as I understand it, use SSL between your e-mail client and your
MTA to protect the e-mail server authentication and use PGP to protect the
message content.  Is that pretty much the Right Thing To Do?

- Jeff
> Transam wrote:
> 
> > Neither SMTP nor POP3 (nor IMAP for that matter) are encrypted.  Both
> > the password (POP3 & IMAP) and all text is sent in the clear.  May I
> > introduce you to the world of encrypting your email before transmission?
> 
> Does anyone know if there is way to set up encrypted passwords for any 
> mail access?  I guess you'd have to work with your isp to do some kind 
> of ssh tunnel or something???
> 
> It seems I find that many a Linux newcomer will set their pop3 and root 
> passwords to the same thing, for convenience... :(
> 
> 
> -- 

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