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Use secure email, browser, and ftp software

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Use software configured for security

Whenever you connect to a service on the Internet and login, whether for email, Web services like MyUW, or file transfer, you should have your software configured to protect your password.

Using email and other services on UW central computers already REQUIRES software that has security features to protect your password. The requirement for password-protecting software is part of a UW-wide effort to improve the security of UW computing and networking by no longer allowing the use of older communications programs that send passwords over the network in easily captured ("clear-text") formats.

The simplest way to be sure you are using secure software is to obtain and install the latest version of the UW Internet Connectivity Kit (UWICK). The UWICK can be purchased on CD-ROM at the UW Book Store or components can be downloaded for free (see Getting Software below). Included in the UWICK are email programs, terminal session ("telnet") programs, browsers, virus protection software, file transfer programs, and more.

Are you secure?

Is your terminal session, email, and browser software configured properly to protect your password? Check the following table. If your software is not secure, you should either upgrade to the software in the latest UWICK or, if you want to use the software you already have, properly configure it to make secure connections (see Configuration below).

Windows - How To Check To See If Your Software Is Secure
Software How To Check
TeraTerm Pro Look for the lock and key in the upper-left corner
PC-Pine Look for the plus sign in the upper-right corner
Outlook Express

Neither Outlook Express nor Netscape Messenger have simple indicators of a secure connection. See the Configuration section below.
Netscape Messenger
Internet Explorer Browser

The simplest method to test whether your browser is correctly configured for secure connections is to try to connect to MyUW (http://myuw.washington.edu). You will be prompted for your UW NetID and password. If your browser if properly configured, you will be connected to MyUW.
Netscape Browser
Macintosh - How To Check To See If Your Software Is Secure
Software How To Check
BetterTelnet Look for the padlock in the upper-left corner
MacSSH Depending on the version you have, the padlock may be located in the upper-right or the lower-left.
Look for the lock and key in the upper-right corner
Secure Fetch Look for the status information in the upper-right corner
Outlook Express

Neither Outlook Express nor Netscape Messenger have simple indicators of a secure connection. See the Configuration section below.
Netscape Messenger
Internet Explorer Browser

The simplest method to test whether your browser is correctly configured for secure connections is to try to connect to MyUW (http://myuw.washington.edu). You will be prompted for your UW NetID and password. If your browser if properly configured, you will be connected to MyUW.
Netscape Browser

Getting software

You can find programs for Macintosh and MS Windows systems that are properly configured to use secure communications methods in the UW Internet Connectivity Kit (UWICK), which can be purchased at the University Bookstore. You can also download the same programs from the UWICK pages in the Software Guide.

Configuration

Terminal session client configuration

Terminal session ("telnet") programs should be configured to either use SSH or Kerberos version 5 encrytion to insure a secure connection.

Email client configuration

Select Your Desktop Email Program for Configuration Instructions
Windows: Macintosh:
PC-Pine n/a
MS Outlook Express for Windows MS Outlook Express for Macintosh
Mozilla Thunderbird instructions for Windows Mozilla Thunderbird instructions for Macintosh (OS X only)
  Mac OS X Mail Version 1 instructions
Mac OS X Mail Version 2 instructions
Mozilla Mail for Windows Mozilla Mail for Macintosh

Browser configuration

Browsers must be capable of establishing an SSL connection and be configured to allow cookies to be able to access MyUW, UW administrative Web pages, Web email, and other pages protected by UW NetID login. These have been required settings for some time and will continue to be in the future.

File transfer programs

Secure file transfer software must have SSH or Kerberos 5 security features to work with the UW central computers. Appropriate software for Windows and Macintosh computers is available in the UWICK.

People using recent UWICK file transfer software

File transfer software obtained from the Spring 2001 (and newer releases) version of the UW Internet Connectivity Kit already has the needed security features and should continue to work. If you have an earlier UWICK version, we recommend that you update your software by obtaining the latest UWICK CD-ROM or by downloading the software from the Software Guide.

People using non-UWICK file transfer software

If you intend to use file transfer software from some source other than the UWICK, it must be configured to use either the SSH or Kerberos version 5 security protocol or it will no longer work. Refer to your software's help or support site for further information.

Using Web publishing software

If you are using the file transfer abilities built into Windows Web publishing programs such as MS FrontPage, Dreamweaver, or many HTML editors, you may need to change how you do things. Most such Web publishing products do not at the present time offer secure file transfer methods. You have two basic choices:

  1. Publish your Web site to a directory on your local computer and then transfer the files and subdirectories to the server using the file transfer programs provided in the UWICK.
  2. Obtain and install the UW's Kerberos FTP Proxy, which translates unsecure FTP into secure Kerberized FTP required by servers at the UW. This approach is somewhat technically complicated and requires specific configuration settings in your Web publishing software.

Software companies (Microsoft, Macromedia, Adobe, etc.) recognize that their products should offer secure file transfer methods and are working on adding them.

For more information, including information on using Macintosh Web publishing programs, see the Using HTML Authoring Tools page.

Transfering files between UW uniform access computers and accounts

When working on computers such as Homer, Dante, Virgil, and Ovid, use the sftp command rather than the older, insecure ftp command to move files from one computer to another or from one account to another.

Transfering files from UW central computers to other computers

Because secure file transfer connections can only be established if the destination computer has the appropriate secure server software on it, using sftp on the UW central computers to transfer files to other computers will not work sometimes. You can usually use ftp in such cases, but keep in mind that doing so may allow a hacker to capture your password. Talk to the system manager of the destination computer for more information on how to do secure transfers. If you have accounts on non-UW computers, do not use the same password on those accounts as you have for your UW NetID.

For more information

If you are UW faculty or staff, talk to your local (departmental) computing support staff first with any questions.