Email and Security

• Viruses
• Attachments
• Secure Connections & SMTP Authentication
• Secure Forwarding & Auto Reply

Viruses

The ND email service provides increased protection from viruses by scanning every email, inbound and outbound, that is handled by the central email servers. 

Attachment Renaming

The email servers are configured to provide an extra level of protection against unrecognized viruses and other malicious programs by renaming certain attachments. Renaming an attachment prevents it from being automatically run when viewing the email, thereby reducing the risk of your computer from being compromised by a potentially dangerous attachment. Since renaming every attachment that comes through the system would cause you a lot of extra work, attachments with the following file extensions will be renamed:

.ad .ade .adp .app .asd .asf .asp .asx .bas .bat .bin .cab .cgi .chm .cil .cmd .com

.cpl .crt .dll .drv .exe .fxp .hlp .hta .hto .inf .ini .ins .isp .js .jse .lib .lnk

.mda .mdb .mde .mdz .msc .msi .msp .mst .mtx .nws .ocx .pcd .pif .prf .prg .reg .scf

.scr .sct .sh .shb .shs .sys .vb .vba .vbe .vbs .vcs .vxd .wmd .wms .wmz .ws .wsc

.wsf .wsh .zip

In addition to this, any attachment that can not be scanned for viruses (e.g., password-protected files) will be renamed to protect your computer from malicious programs.

If your attachment has been renamed, the email servers will insert a short note in your message to let you know.

Secure Connections & SMTP Authentication

Users can configure most email clients for secure connections by utilizing SSL and SMTP authentication. SSL encrypts communications between the email servers and your computer so your password is not sent in cleartext. SMTP authentication ensures that only Notre Dame users are allowed to send email through the central Notre Dame email service.

Instructions for configuring OIT supported email clients for SSL and SMTP authentication are available HERE.  Webmail and Pine users do not need to make configuration changes.

Secure Forwarding & Auto Reply

The email system is closely tied to the Enterprise Directory Service (EDS) which allows you to set email forwarding and auto reply options securely.