Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

48° Evanston, IL
Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

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Telnet e-mail service restored after security loophole closed

Telnet, an e-mail application, became fully operational Tuesday after about two months of limited service due to security concerns.

Northwestern University Information Technology shut down an older version of Telnet July 25 after NUIT was informed that the older version was vulnerable to hackers, said Tom Board, director of technology support services. Board said hackers could attack the program in several different operating systems including Unix, the system used by NU.

Board said NUIT was told Tuesday by Telnet vendor Hewlett-Packard that the problem had been fixed.

The problem affected only the older version of Telnet, which uses Host Explorer software to connect to the NU servers, Board said.

In the spring, NUIT also began using a version of Telnet with Secure Shell (SSH) instead of Host Explorer, which sent both user names and passwords in clear text, allowing eavesdroppers to access the information, Board said.

The version of Telnet using SSH was unaffected by the shutdown.

Board said he personally had not heard any complaints about not being able to use the older Telnet version, and “that has encouraged (NUIT) to think about taking it off entirely.” He said NUIT would prefer students not use the older version of Telnet because SSH is more secure. People also can use the Web E-mail Gateway on their Internet browsers.

Weinberg junior Erin Nettifee, an Information Center consultant, said, “there were some complaints, but not that many.”

Nettifee said Telnet tends to be used by individuals with older computers and people who save their e-mail. She said Telnet is faster than Web e-mail.

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Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881
Telnet e-mail service restored after security loophole closed