secure IMAP/POP email delivery

[#1]

I wonder what other community members think about plus.net not providing secure access to their email accounts especially given last year's debacle with webmail information leaking (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/24/plusnet_takes_blame/).
I raised a ticket (25764508) and Plusnet say: "Checking mail using POP or IMAP over a secure connection is not supported, and we have no plans to implement this feature. This would only secure the connection between your client computer and the mail server, whereas the e-mail messages would have been sent over the internet without any encryption or security. "
Although that's true, the receipt of those emails from plusnet's server needs a password. And although that should be OK from home, it's not OK if I connect my laptop to someone else's network as the password to my plusnet account could be easily compromised.
I know other ISPs do support the collection of email over a secure connection.
--
Andy

[#2]

"Not a lot" is my thought.
It is for that reason that I use alternative email suppliers for important stuff. For a nominal sum, in several cases just a once off sum of about $US15, there are suppliers around who have a good track record, permit the use of an outgoing SMTP server, and who do not let the pikeys camp on the server harvesting email addresses for spam and passwords for use. Oh, and suppliers who make SSL and TLS available for all connections, SMTP, POP3, and IMAP. Fastmail, Lavabit, Virus Free Email, and Safemail.net all spring immediately to mind.

[#3]

This was raised as an issue in the link:pugit direct link; http://usergroup.plus.net/pugit/view.php?jv=1&id=312
I suggest you register on the link:pug site, and then you can vote on the issues that effect you, the more usernames that are associated with an issue in link:pugit the more likley that it is that we can get PlusNet to do something about it.
Chilly

[#4]

"we will implement the following:...
3) SSL encrypted connections for POP3 and IMAP email and FTP...
We will contact all our customers with firm timescales for the above improvements."
May 23rd, 2007
http://community.plus.net/blog/2007/05/23/webmail-incident-report-2/

[#5]

Nice bit of recall alanf   A respone from PlusNet is overdue on this issue - perhaps this reminder will act as a prod?
Meanwhile, as Chilly says, numbers on the PUGIT vote count can make a significant difference to the priority that PlusNet put on any issue we raise.  Can I urge you to pop across to the usergroup site and make your vote count.
As an aside, the PUGIT Top 5 - a process for handling the more easily developed solutions has been working well in getting a number of changes implemented.  This particular item is almost certainly too large for the TOP5 process, but the larger the vote, the larger the pressure we can use
MauriceC

[#6]

Hi guys,
I'm sorry that we haven't supplied any update on this at all recently.
I'll try getting the relevant people together and then I'll have an update for you in a few days to let you know where we stand.

[#7]

Guys,
Just an FYI.
I'm hoping to have a meeting on this on Friday with Ian (Product Manager) and Lee (Head of Network Development), so I should have some further information then.

[#8]

...did this meeting happen? Not having secure login to POP/SMTP is asking for trouble IMHO... at the moment my "public wifi access" solution is by VPN'ing to a Linux box at home and forwarding traffic over my DSL to mail/relay.plus.net.

cxf
[Moderator's note by Barry Zubel: Removed quote of preceding post as per the link:rules ]

[#9]

It's beginning to look as if there needs to be a major incident before this particular item gets to the top of the development pile  
C'mon guys hows about a response - even if it's a NO!
Maurice

[#10]

9 months and counting.......
Mike

[#11]

Hi,
Ironport will allow us to be able to deliver SSL over SMTP but at the point of writing this, we have no scheduled plans to be able to offer SSL over IMAP/POP3.

[#12]

Which is different to what I thought Bob said six months back (possibly in his mammoth Ironport blog post). I thought secure protocols was the next phase of the Ironport work, once all the consolidation was completed.
If it is a case of testing it, and turning the feature on, it would be a shame to not put that time aside and make it happen.
Spam and the integrity & sending reputation of the Plusnet mail servers surely demand that secure protocols become the default sooner rather than later, as does implementing DKIP.
James, I do hope that secure protocols get back on the radar ASAP.... if you aren't going to take security seriously, then it seems that nothing has been learnt from the mistakes of the past..... and maybe now is the time for everyone to leave Plusnet.
Mike

[#13]

Mike - Bob's piece on Ironport was referring to outbound email and not inbound.

[#14]

Quote from: xpcomputers

............Spam and the integrity & sending reputation of the Plusnet mail servers surely demand that secure protocols become the default sooner rather than later, as does implementing DKIP..........

Mike, you might have seen one too many political leaflets, I think you mean DKIM

[#15]

Nah, nothing to do with political leaflets... 
I'm sure all we need to shore up the sending servers is to implement the new Dynamic Karate Interrogation Protocol (DKIP)... surely you've heard of it? It can kill spam dead with one slice of it's bare hands!  NOTHING gets past it.
Mike
Ps  Thanks for the correction... it was late and I was seething! Not a good combo for clear thinking...