Strong Security for Email at UIC: mail.uic.edu and SSL

• NOTE: The information in this page does not apply to you if you only use pine and Webmail to read and send your ACCC email. (Don't worry, both are as secure as using mail.uic.edu.)

• When and How You Use mail.uic.edu and SSL
• Do you have non-mail.uic.edu ACCC email accounts?
• Help!

• Regardless of which ACCC server their email account is on, most people read email on an ACCC email account with POP or IMAP must mail.uic.edu as the name of their incoming email server. (The exceptions are listed below.)
  
  
• Everyone with a UIC netid and an ACCC Common password can use also mail.uic.edu authenticated SMTP server as their outgoing email (SMTP) server, regardless of whether they are on- or off-campus.
  
  
• mail.uic.edu only accepts POP, IMAP, or SMTP connections that use SSL (Secure Sockets Layer)
  

There are two steps:

1. Change your POP/IMAP Server: Change your incoming mail server to mail.uic.edu and turn on "SSL for IMAP" or "SSL for POP", depending on which you use. We have instructions for all manner of email programs.
   Using mail.uic.edu for Your Incoming Email Server and Turning SSL On
   
   
   
2. And change your SMTP server: Change outgoing email to use mail.uic.edu for SMTP, instructions for many email programs.
   (If you are on campus, you can continue to use smtpserv.cc.uic.edu, without SSL and without password authentication.)
   Using the mail.uic.edu Authenticated SMTP Outgoing Email Server
   

Some details about mail.uic.edu:

For incoming mail, mail.uic.edu must point to a real ACCC email account.

• If you have your netid@uic.edu email sent to an ACCC email account, then that is the machine that your mail.uic.edu account is sent to.
  
  
• If you have an ACCC email account that your netid@uic.edu email is not sent to, you can not use mail.uic.edu to read that mail. See Do you have a second ACCC email account? if this applies to you.
  

About SSL:

• If you use POP or IMAP, you must turn SSL for POP or SSL for IMAP on, depending on which you use.
  
  
• If you use mail.uic.edu for outgoing SMTP, you must turn SSL for SMTP on.
  

SSL takes care of the secure transfer of your password and your incoming/outgoing email files. The password protection is important in any case. The protection of the transfer of the email doesn't really mean that much, because it only protects the first/last of the many hops the email took. And all the rest won't be protected. If you really want to protect the email message itself, you should also look into something that encrypts the message itself, such as PGP.

• Do you have an ACCC email account that your netid@uic.edu email is not sent to?
• Do you have a second or third ACCC email account with your netid?

To read the email on these types of ACCC email accounts, use:

• WebMail , or
• Use SSH to login to tigger or icarus and use pine. (If your ACCC email account is on mailserv, see Appendix Setting pine up to Read Your mailserv Mail.)

Having problems? Have a question? We'll help! Send email to consult@uic.edu and be sure to tell us:

• Are you using Windows, Mac, or Linux?
• What email program are you using?
• When you try to read your email, what happens? What exact error message do you get?
• If you use IMAP and it's a problem with your email mailboxes, what IMAP mailbox location prefix are you using?
  
  
• If you are using Eudora for Windows,
  • Have you upgraded to Eudora for Windows Version 6.2.1?
  • If you have upgraded to Eudora for Windows Version 6.2.1 and it still doesn't work, please give us:
    • Your netid
    • The IP address of the your machine
      (For Windows NT, 2000, and XP: Start ->Run -> type cmd -> click OK; a Windows command window opens. Type ipconfig and press Enter. The output of the ipconfig command includes your IP address.)
    • The date and time of an attempt to receive and/or send mail
    • The complete list of settings under:
      TOOLS -> OPTIONS ->CHECKING MAIL (if a receiving problem)
      TOOLS -> OPTIONS -> INCOMING MAIL (if a receiving problem)
      TOOLS -> OPTIONS -> SENDING MAIL (if a sending problem)