New Network Security Measures - Port 25 Blocking

ITS is changing Wesleyan's firewall configuration to prevent computers that have been taken over by viruses or hijackers from being used as spam distributors.    This is done by allowing only Wesleyan's outgoing (SMTP) mail server to send mail to the Internet.   Hijacked computers usually try to send mail through an external mail server and this type network traffic would be blocked.  Technically speaking, we are restricting port 25 on our firewall which is the SMTP communication port.  This technique is used by most Internet service providers for the same reasons.

Most email users will see no difference as a result of this change.  People who use WebMail or Pine will not be affected.  Most users of POP/IMAP email programs such as Eudora and Outlook will see no change if they are using the standard Wesleyan email configuration.  However, it may affect people in the following categories:

• People with Laptops that are configured to use a different email service at home who attempt to use that same configuration on campus.  (for example, a person who has a separate email program set up to use a Yahoo email account)

• People who are using VPN from a home computer and, while connected to Wesleyan, attempt to use an email program which is configured for a different email server.

In these two instances, errors would occur when the user attempted to send email.   Home users can simply disconnect from VPN and they will be able to successfully use their email programs.   For people who need to use an alternative email configuration on campus, the email program can be reconfigured to direct outgoing mail to a different SMTP Port.  The link below explains how to make this change in Outlook and Eudora.

http://www.wesleyan.edu/its/email/port25config.html