E-mail service to be encrypted by May 24

By Rory Sa

Right now, your Fresno State e-mail is in danger. Cunning, unscrupulous hackers could steal your username and password and you’d never know.

But this vulnerability will cease to exist after May 24 when Fresno State’s e-mail service will require users to change their settings in order to encrypt their username and password.

Students will have until then to update the settings, otherwise they won’t be able to access their e-mail.

Rafael Villegas, Fresno State’s information security manager, said changes were being made before the semester ended so faculty and students wouldn’t forget to fix their e-mail programs before they leave.

“ Faculty like to leave for the summer, students will leave for the summer,” he said. “We want to get everyone who’s here, before the semester is over.”

The change is the result of a security assessment that was made last year, evaluating the security of Fresno State’s information system infrastructure.

The assessment team issued a report in January with several recommendations, one of which was to encrypt usernames and passwords.

Currently usernames and passwords are sent to the e-mail server as clear text, which means they are sent without encryption.

It could be possible, though Villegas said unlikely, that someone could intercept the usernames and passwords, gaining access to users e-mail accounts.

Encryption disguises information and prevents hackers from deciphering any information they intercept.

Notices will be placed on blackboard and the my.fresnostate.edu web portal and e-mails will be sent to users’ accounts.

The changes affect e-mail accounts with csufresno.edu, CVIP and state center community colleges.