I can't send mail from off campus. What's going on?

Our systems have been the target of several attacks abusing our outgoing mail servers and sending large amounts of spam email. In an effort to reduce the level of these attacks, OIT will be disabling SMTP authentication.

What does this mean?

As of October 28, 2009, you will no longer be able to send email messages from an IMAP or POP client to a non-UT user from off-campus using our outgoing mail server.

To reduce the impact of this change, all users that have been using SMTP authentication before October 28, 2009 have been whitelisted in the system and will not be affected.

If you are using an IMAP or POP client such as Apple mail or Thunderbird and need to send email from off campus, you have a few options:

1. You can use an Exchange client to send/receive mail. The supported Exchange clients are Microsoft Outlook for the PC and Microsoft Entourage for the Mac. You can also use the Exchange Online Web Access at https://tmail.utk.edu .

2. You can change the settings of your client to use the outgoing mail server of your current internet service provider. To get this information, you would need to contact your ISP.

3. You can use the UT SSL-VPN to connect to UT's system and then send the email. You can access the VPN at https://access.utk.edu . You would need to run the Network Connect application to be able to successfully send mail.

If you have any questions about this change or need assistance configuring an Exchange client or using the VPN, please contact the HelpDesk at 974-9900.