Email

< TechFAQ

See also E-mail at Binghamton University.

As of March 2010, Binghamton University e-mail is handled by Google Apps for Schools and is known as Bmail. The material here supplements documentation provided on the Google Help Pages.

How do I get Bmail to work with a client like Thunderbird, Outlook or Apple Mail?
You will need the following information to configure Bmail for client programs like Thunderbird, Outlook, Outlook Express, Apple Mail, etc.:

Incoming Mail Server: Location: pop.gmail.com Type: POP3

Outgoing Mail Server: Location: smtp.gmail.com Type:SMTP

Outgoing mail through Google must be authenticated; that is, you must provide your login credentials (your e-mail account and password). Moreover, connections to Bmail/Google must be encrypted. For more details, consult the Google documentation here and here.

How can I forward messages sent to my binghamton.edu e-mail account to another address that I read more regularly?
You can configure your Bmail account to forward incoming mail to another address. See this Google Help Document.

How can I transfer large files?
Google (and therefore Bmail) limits the size of e-mail attachments to about 25 megabytes. When you transfer files as attachments using e-mail, however, you also need to consider possible restrictions on the receiving end.

Transfering files through the Internet involves two major considerations: size and security.

Security has two additional components:


 * Will the file get where it's going intact?
 * Will the material be protected from unauthorized access?

Unless you have complete control over both ends of the transfer (that is, both the sending and receiving computers are under your complete control), you will be sharing resources, usually on a server somewhere. Maximum space allocations are defined for server applications like e-mail so that server resources can be equitably shared. It is those server applications that help to ensure the security of your file transfers.

The Blackboard system can also be used to make files available to virtually anyone on the Internet through its content management (your Content Collection ) features. The current quota limit is 20 megabytes. Blackboard also has extensive security control facilities.

The University strongly discourages individuals from establishing FTP servers. If you have a regular requirement for transferring large files, please contact the Director of Academic Computing, or the ITS Help Desk for assistance.

Peer-to-peer (P2P) sharing systems can be used for transferring very large files. The variety of P2P systems means that you must choose among them for a particular transfer. P2P file sharing often requires the use of special "ports" on your computer. Most of these ports are blocked by campus firewalls for security reasons.

Can I use something other than the Bmail/Google web interface to access my electronic mail on or off campus?
You can use any e-mail client that can handle e-mail using either the POP3 or IMAP mail protocols. These include Outlook, Outlook Express, Outlook, Thunderbird, Apple Mail, or any of a number of other programs.

A simple guide to help you install Thunderbird for example is here.

Google provides instructions for configuring
 * Thunderbird


 * Outlook 2007.


 * Apple Mail.


 * Windows Mail (Vista, Windows 7).

How can I send e-mail from my personal account (non-BU mail account like Yahoo!) while on Campus?
If you use a browser-based e-mail system like gmail, Yahoo! mail or Hotmail, you will use it just like you would use it anywhere else.

If you use a POP or IMAP-based e-mail system, you will need to configure your preferred e-mail client (Thunderbird, Outlook, Outlook Express, etc.) to read your mail based on information supplied by your e-mail provider. Most modern e-mail client software allows you to configure multiple accounts. However, to send mail from on campus, your client program may need to be configured in a special way, depending on the requirements of your provider's mail service. Your provider may offer a browser-based alternative. Check with your off-campus e-mail provider for details.

What is a zero-day exploit?
Just like in biology, computer viruses or other computer "malware" are constantly changing, mutating, if you will. There is an on-going battle between the bugs and the bug killers. Once in a while a new poison appears before an antidote is available. In computer lingo, this is known as a "zero-day exploit" because it appears before day one; that is, before there has been an opportunity to react.

Some research effort has been directed toward preventing attacks like this by (a) predicting where attacks might appear in future, and (b) hardening systems in various ways to prevent some kinds of attacks. Inevitably, large and complex systems (like large and complex biological systems) may always be vulnerable to concerted attacks by determined organisms.

Can I get a virus just by reading an email?
There are some (rare) viruses that can be transmitted simply by reading (opening) an e-mail message, usually only on Windows computers, and usually only using Outlook or Outlook Express e-mail clients. These problems can be avoided by making sure your computer is up to date with all the latest Microsoft patches, and has an up-to-date anti-virus package installed.

What is a Strong Password?
See http://www.microsoft.com/protect/yourself/password/create.mspx, or consider a "pass phrase".