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What are Secure Services?

Secure Services are internet services which provide for complete encryption of any data that passes between your computer and the host system you are connected to. By adding a special layer of security to email, telnet, and ftp services you can transfer any information with complete confidence that no one else will read it.

Beginning in July 2003 Rutgers University Office of Information Technology will be implementing this added layer of protection (SSL and SSH) to host systems. Camden Computing Services will be adding them to our various servers.

When will the services be secured?

Email - turning on of secure email (imaps/pops/starttls/smtp-auth) - July 1, 2003 (Completed)
Telnet - Turning off telnet (ssh is the replacement) - July 1, 2003 (Comleted)
SFTP - make available WebDrive/sftp (ftp replacement) - Summer 2004 (Completed)
dtlogin - turn off January 1, 2005 (affects only some direct access unix users) (Completed)

Email - turn off insecure imap/pop - August 1st, 2006
Email - enforce smtp authentication - August 1st, 2006
FTP - turn off old ftp - Sept 30, 2006

What do I have to do to prepare?

You need to add similar security to the internet software you presently use to access Camden Services. Camden Computing Services has prepared several documents to assist you. This web document provides you with the added information about securing your web development software. Assistance is provided for Windows, Macintosh, and where possible, GNU/Linux software.

For people using "telnet", please use "ssh" instead. Telnet will no longer work with OIT systems. See the below documentation on ssh.

For people using email, make sure that you (or your departmental IT person (UCS)) reconfigure your email software to use secure imap (called imaps) or secure pop (called pops). Generally, imaps is prefered. Also your email software should be setup to use "starttls". For information on how to configure your email software, please see: http://computing.camden.rutgers.edu/email.configure.php

For those who use ftp, you can use secure ftp (sftp) as a replacment, which is available with ssh software...or directly on a unix system as "sftp". See the below documetation.

Also, web page publishing (i.e., Netscape/Mozilla composer) is based upon insecure ftp, which will be going away. To publish, Windows users may prefer WebDrive software (free to the Rutgers community) along with your web publishing software (i.e., Netscape/Mozilla composer). Other sftp clients are widely available, while DreamWeaver users may find their sftp plugin helpful (as of Dreamweaver MX 2004 & v8, sftp is built-in). Information on WebDrive can be found below.

Email software that supports SSL

Webmail and pine- are all ready set up to be secure.

Windows
Eudora
Mozilla or Thunderbird
Outlook

FTP software

Windows

WebDrive
SFTP - sftp information
Macintosh
Fetch
  (free; only newer Mac OS X versions support sftp)
Interarchy
  (Mac OS Classic and Mac OS X)
macSFTP
  (Mac OS Classic and Mac OS X
Fugu
  (Mac OS X only)

Telnet (ssh) Software

SSH - Computing Services Document for Windows, Mac, and Unix.

More Information

Camden Computing Services has an additional Security and Virus Information web page that contains a lot of helpful information that might be helpful.