Security concerns have prompted Northwestern administrators to shut down an older version of Telnet on Monday, forcing students to switch to a newer version of the e-mail application if they wish to continue using it.

Information Technology officials announced the discontinuation of the older version in a press release Wednesday.

IT cited its preference of the Secure Shell (SSH) version of Telnet, which became available during the previous academic year. Unlike the original version of Telnet, SSH Telnet encrypts transmitted data.

IT officials could not be reached for comment Monday.

The discontinued version of Telnet that used Host Explorer software to connect to the four central e-mail host computers sent both usernames and passwords in clear text, allowing possible eavesdroppers to access the information, Director of Technology Support Services Tom Board said last month.

The software for SSH Telnet can be downloaded from www.tss.northwestern.edu/reference/ssh.html.

Most Telnet users said they are not very concerned about the change.

Weinberg junior Paul Grinstead said he began using the newer application over the summer during the two-month period when the older version of Telnet went offline.

“It’s not really all that different,” Grinstead said.

Board told The Daily in October that IT shut down Telnet on July 25 after it was informed that hackers could attack the program in various operating systems including UNIX, the system used by NU. Telnet returned online Oct. 2 after IT was told by Telnet vendor Hewlett-Packard that the problem had been fixed.

According to the IT press release, administrators have been looking into the security of transferring Net IDs and passwords over the campus network for the past few years. SSH Telnet was added last year as the first step in eliminating the original Telnet.

The only differences Grinstead said he noticed while using SSH Telnet were the appearance of the screen and a new feature that allows the user to save the server and user names and only be required to enter the password.

Weinberg junior Erin Nettifee said she uses Telnet frequently and agreed with Grinstead that “it’s not really that much of a change.”

Nettifee said she likes using Telnet instead of other e-mail programs because of features such as the ability to leave the Telnet window open and see when new e-mails arrive, an option unavailable on NU’s Web E-mail Gateway, another e-mail application.

Among the features that Grinstead said he likes is that it can load several hundred e-mails faster than Web E-mail, which can take several minutes to load.

Telnet also allows users to search for e-mails from a specific person or jump to a specific e-mail number.

“It’s just a lot easier to find what you’re looking for,” Grinstead said.