My "Email Ports protected for POP3 and SMTP protocols," are listed as follows:
SMTP 25
POP3 110
However, these to not match my client settings. I am connecting to Gmail using Thunderbird as my email client. Thunderbird is configured as required by Gmail with the following settings:
SMTP 465
POP3 995
When I try to add these ports to Norton 360, I am prevented from adding them with the alert that, "This port is used by programs other than the supported email programs. It cannot be added to the list of protected email ports."
Why am I unable to the ports I am using to my list of protected ports. Given that these are the ports required by the largest email provder (Gmail), I am surprised that Symantec is unable to provide protection for them.
Does this mean my emails attachments are not getting scanned?
I was searching the net trying to find out why I couldn't put in port 995 to be scanned, and found your post. Thank you for posting it, because it explained the problem.
BUT, I completely disagree with the notion that it is OK if the incoming and outgoing email is not being scanned.
(1) This is an advertised feature of the program, and it doesn't work for a LOT of people. It's a feature that you paid Symantec for.
(2) There is NO ONE who wants viruses and malware sitting in their inbox. Yes, it should get caught by other parts of Norton if you click on one of the attachments, but what if you had temporarily let your subscription lapse, or you decided to remove Norton. No One would want viruses lurking in their inbox waiting to be triggered.
(3) I receive about 5 emails per week with viruses/malware, I assume from zombie computers that are infected. I have the system scan set to do a complete scan once per week, and the scan takes several hours. That's when the email viruses typically get caught and removed. A very annoying side effect is that Norton's technique of removing the malware usually fouls up the email index in Thunderbird, making the inbox or trash file unreadable until you do a manual index rebuild. It happens every week and is really annoying.
(4) Saying that no one needs outgoing email screening because everyone receiving the emails has scanners on their incoming email is irresponsible in my opinion. It's the same thinking as "I don't need to vaccinate my children because the diseases are rare now that everyone else has had their kids vaccinated." Based on the number of infected emails I receive, there are still plenty of non-protected systems out there. Because the incoming and outgoing scanner on Norton doesn't work, I could easily pass one of these infected files to someone else before it gets caught in a weekly scan.
I'm really not looking to start any fights--I'd really just like to see the incoming and outgoing scanning of emails fixed so that it works with modern secure ports, which most ISPs are now using. If you have any inroads at Norton, can you please push them to fix this problem?
However, these to not match my client settings. I am connecting to Gmail using Thunderbird as my email client. Thunderbird is configured as required by Gmail with the following settings:
Thanks in advance.
SendOfJive has answerd you about the actual protection for your emails.
Thunderbird is not a supported email client. Just Outlook and Outlook Express.
I agree that incoming email scanning is useful. But it is not actually indispensible - and indeed, there are some legitimate reasons not to have it enabled in some situations. Again, the main thing is that any malware that email scanning would have caught, will also be caught by Auto-Protect, so you are equally safe, either way. I actually prefer incoming scans, too, but with ISPs moving to encrypted ports, Norton just can't scan the traffic.
I do not agree with you about outgoing scanning. First, it is only helpful if your machine is infected and spreading the malware. If that is the case, and Norton hasn't been able to detect the infection on your PC, then chances are, it won't detect it in the outgoing attachments, either. Second, while it's a very nice thing to think about others, it is almost unheard of these days that anyone with an email client would not also have some sort of AV protection (if they don't, they're asking to be infected - if not by you, then by the next guy). So, yes, be a nice guy but, remember that the point of your AV is to protect your system from malware, and outgoing email scans have no role in that.
There are a lot of interesting ins and outs when using Thunderbird and any antivirus program. I heartily recommend reading the following articles - they may save you some grief down the road:
My "Email Ports protected for POP3 and SMTP protocols," are listed as follows:
SMTP 25
POP3 110
However, these to not match my client settings. I am connecting to Gmail using Thunderbird as my email client. Thunderbird is configured as required by Gmail with the following settings:
SMTP 465
POP3 995
When I try to add these ports to Norton 360, I am prevented from adding them with the alert that, "This port is used by programs other than the supported email programs. It cannot be added to the list of protected email ports."
Why am I unable to the ports I am using to my list of protected ports. Given that these are the ports required by the largest email provder (Gmail), I am surprised that Symantec is unable to provide protection for them.
Does this mean my emails attachments are not getting scanned?
