Do NOT use new SSL email settings with Outlook Express if I use Avast anti-virus ????

Is the following right?

If I use both Avast and Outlook Exoress, the Avast Mail Sield settings should be set per the new Verizon email - 995 and 465 and SSL, but the Outlook Express settings should go back to the prior 587 and 110 and NOT SSL ??

Is that correct?

If that is correct, is it because Avast is communicating with the Vz email server and then passing the emails to and from my Outlook Express? In other words, my Outlook Express is NOT communicating directly with the Vz email server?

Please explain, as I had complained in other forums about the lack of SSL between my Outlook Express and the Vz email server and was happy to get the new email suggesting the new SSL link.

Thanks.

Accepted answers

Justin46

@glnz2 wrote:
Justin - Thanks for your rapid reply. However, two related questions:
Is my Outlook Express still communicating UNencrypted with the Vz email server, or is the only connection an encrypted connection between Avast and Vz ?
If my PC is a laptop and I am using WiFi, can my emails be sniffed because OE is still using an UNencrypted link?

Sorry to be so long responding, have been out all day.

The answer to both questions is No.

I'm sorry, but I don't understand why you are asking this. I provided a link to the Avast Help page which I believe answers your questions. For completeness, here is the text from the Avast Help:

____________________________________________________

"SSL Accounts

On this screen you can enter details of how your Mail Clients communicate with the Mail Server, including, where encryption is required, the type of encryption that is used.

In order for mail to be scanned by the Mail Shield, it is necessary that encryption is turned off in your Mail Client.

If encryption is required, the information on this screen will then be used to establish a secure connection between the Mail Shield and the Mail Server. This will enable all incoming and outgoing mail to be scanned by the Mail Shield. Unencrypted connections do not need to be listed.

Outgoing Mail

The outgoing unencrypted email will first be scanned by the Mail Shield. If the type of encryption is specified on this page, a secure connection will be established and the mail will be sent encrypted to the Mail Server (if the type of encryption has been specified as "None", the mail will be sent unencrypted). If nothing is specified on this page for a particular mail account, the Mail Shield will check whether the Mail Server supports encryption. If it does, a new rule will be created automatically and the mail will be encrypted and sent to the Mail Server.

Incoming Mail

As the secure connection is established between the Mail Shield and the Mail Server, incoming mail can be unencrypted when it is received by the Mail Shield and scanned before it is delivered to the Mail Client.

If encryption is not turned off in the Mail Client, the Mail Shield will be unable to scan the content of either incoming or outgoing mail. This means that although the connection will be secure, the mail cannot be scanned by avast! and is therefore unprotected. In this case a warning message will be displayed (by default) informing you that a message has been received via an unprotected SSL connection.

If you do not want to receive this warning, uncheck the box at the bottom of page "Automatically detect and warn about unprotected SSL connection"."

____________________________________________________

I have highlighted what I think are the answers to your questions.

Keep in mind that your email client and the Mail Shield of Avast are both running in your computer, communicating with each other. So any communication between them is inside your computer, not on a wi-fi link or on the internet. Set up properly, all external email communication (outside your computer) will be encrypted.

I hope this clarifies things.

__________________________________
Justin
FiOS TV, 25/25 Internet, and Digital Voice user
QIP7232, QIP7100-P2, IMG 1.9
Keller, TX 76248

All comments

Justin46

@glnz2 wrote:
Is the following right?
If I use both Avast and Outlook Exoress, the Avast Mail Sield settings should be set per the new Verizon email - 995 and 465 and SSL, but the Outlook Express settings should go back to the prior 587 and 110 and NOT SSL ??
Is that correct?
If that is correct, is it because Avast is communicating with the Vz email server and then passing the emails to and from my Outlook Express? In other words, my Outlook Express is NOT communicating directly with the Vz email server?
Please explain, as I had complained in other forums about the lack of SSL between my Outlook Express and the Vz email server and was happy to get the new email suggesting the new SSL link.
Thanks.

Basically yes.

If you will open the Avast User Interface, click on the Real Time Shields and then select the Mail Shield, click on SSL Accounts, and then go to the Help (? icon in lower right corner), you will find detailed information on how Avast handles SSL encryption for your email accounts.

__________________________________
Justin
FiOS TV, 25/25 Internet, and Digital Voice user
QIP7232, QIP7100-P2, IMG 1.9
Keller, TX 76248

glnzglnz

Justin - Thanks for your rapid reply. However, two related questions:

Is my Outlook Express still communicating UNencrypted with the Vz email server, or is the only connection an encrypted connection between Avast and Vz ?

If my PC is a laptop and I am using WiFi, can my emails be sniffed because OE is still using an UNencrypted link?

tonygh

glnz2,

Thank you very much for asking this question. I am annoyed that Verizon sent instructions for reconfiguring my Windows Mail (I am using Vista) account for verizon.net in a way which would have cut AVAST out of the security loop entirely, and did not even mention that that was what following the instructions would do. When AVAST reported that those settings made it impossible for AVAST to scan incoming e-mail, I started mulling over how to accomplish exactly what you have figured out. Thanks for saving me the trouble of figuring it out for myself.

To any Verizon agent who is reading this: Surely you people know that users use other antivirus services for e-mail. It's nice that your company has decided to beef up the antivirus services it offers, but you should be a lot more clear about the implications of the changes you advise. Somewhere, there should be at least a mention that an alternative to your recommended settings is to continue using another antivirus program by changing port settings in that program instead of in the e-mail client.

tonygh

glnzglnz

DEAR KNOWLEDGEABLE PEOPLE: I would like to have the answer to my questions. If I follow Justin's and Avast's instructions, set Avast Mail Scan Expert Settibgs with your new ports and SSL but leave Outlook Express with the old ports and UNencrypted, ARE MY EMAILS ENCRYPTED OR NOT?

If that is the setup on my WiFi laptop and I'm using Outlook Express in a WiFi hot spot at an airport, CAN A BAD GUY SNIFF AND READ MY EMAILS OR ARE THEY ENCRYPTED?

Please answer this question.

Justin46

@glnz2 wrote:
Justin - Thanks for your rapid reply. However, two related questions:
Is my Outlook Express still communicating UNencrypted with the Vz email server, or is the only connection an encrypted connection between Avast and Vz ?
If my PC is a laptop and I am using WiFi, can my emails be sniffed because OE is still using an UNencrypted link?

Sorry to be so long responding, have been out all day.

The answer to both questions is No.

I'm sorry, but I don't understand why you are asking this. I provided a link to the Avast Help page which I believe answers your questions. For completeness, here is the text from the Avast Help:

____________________________________________________

"SSL Accounts

On this screen you can enter details of how your Mail Clients communicate with the Mail Server, including, where encryption is required, the type of encryption that is used.

In order for mail to be scanned by the Mail Shield, it is necessary that encryption is turned off in your Mail Client.

Outgoing Mail

Incoming Mail

If you do not want to receive this warning, uncheck the box at the bottom of page "Automatically detect and warn about unprotected SSL connection"."

____________________________________________________

I have highlighted what I think are the answers to your questions.

I hope this clarifies things.

__________________________________
Justin
FiOS TV, 25/25 Internet, and Digital Voice user
QIP7232, QIP7100-P2, IMG 1.9
Keller, TX 76248

Justin46

@tonygh wrote:
glnz2,
Thank you very much for asking this question. I am annoyed that Verizon sent instructions for reconfiguring my Windows Mail (I am using Vista) account for verizon.net in a way which would have cut AVAST out of the security loop entirely, and did not even mention that that was what following the instructions would do. When AVAST reported that those settings made it impossible for AVAST to scan incoming e-mail, I started mulling over how to accomplish exactly what you have figured out. Thanks for saving me the trouble of figuring it out for myself.
To any Verizon agent who is reading this: Surely you people know that users use other antivirus services for e-mail. It's nice that your company has decided to beef up the antivirus services it offers, but you should be a lot more clear about the implications of the changes you advise. Somewhere, there should be at least a mention that an alternative to your recommended settings is to continue using another antivirus program by changing port settings in that program instead of in the e-mail client.
tonygh

While I understand your concern, I think you are greatly oversimplifying things. There are many anti-virus programs and many email clients, there is no way for Verizon to anticipate all combinations and test and document all of them, that is not their job. Instead, it is up to users to understand the tools they are using (as it should be). If you are an Avast user, you should have already known about the Avast functions available; that is your responsibility, not Verizon's.

Now I do think the Verizon email was poorly written, too vague, and no clear description of the what, why, and when. And the pages linked to should have included screen captures of the settings, such as I have provided for Outlook Express, Windows Live Mail, and Mozilla Thunderbird in threads here on the Forums (those are the email clients I have installed on my systems so I can easily document them). But I really think it is unreasonable to expect Verizon to document the effects of all of the various anti-virus programs on the use of SSL for email.

And I wish some users of Outlook would document their settings here, as well as users of some of other anti-virus programs that might have some effect on the use of SSL.

_____________________________

Justin
FiOS TV, 25/25 Internet, and Digital Voice user
QIP7232, QIP7100-P2, IMG 1.9
Keller, TX 76248

glnzglnz

Thanks, Justin. I have accepted your reply as the solution. Much obliged!

FOLLOW-UP: How can I test to confirm independently that in fact Avast is using only 995 465 and SSL?

(By the way, you might advise the Verizon folks who administer this forum that:

1) It is impossible to sign in on this forum in Firefox - sign-in for this forum works only in IE.

2) Many pages of this forum try to run scripts that even IE rejects.

3) This forum is slow and unresponsive with each change of page.)