Secure Services

Security is a growing concern on the internet.  Our services will now allow you to encrypt all communication between your computer and web site. This includes email, ftp traffic, and even telnet sessions. The most common way of securing data across the internet is via encryption and several different methods are used:

 

Securing Web Pages and contents:
Encryption of web pages is done using SSL (Secure Socket Layer).  When you connect to a website via SSL, usually signified with https:// in the URL or :443 (the https:// Port#) at the end of the URL, the computer you are connecting to  will provide a SSL Server Certificate to verify its identity.  SSL Server Certificates are only issued by a Certificate Authority.  Certificate Authorities include GeoTrust and Thawte (Verisign). The SSL Server Certificate certifies that the machine you are connecting to is the machine you think it is and also provides encryption of all data sent back and forth between your computer and the remote machine. Viewing the Secure Server Certificate varies depending on which web browser you are using.  In Netscape : Click the "Security" Button on the Netscape toolbar and select "View Certificate".  IE and AOL Users should try right clicking your mouse over the white backgound, select "Properties" and "Certificates".   This will show that the certificate was issued to https://www.thebook.com by Equifax Secure Certificate Authority.   Securing Your Access An important part of security is password control.  We have a policy of using long passwords to help prevent potential intruders from gaining access to your accounts by cracking an exposed password.  Our control panel is secure and our file manager allows you to upload and edit files over a secure connection.
Securing Email:
Email can be secured in a similar fashion to web pages.  Using a SSL capable POP3 Email client, such as Outlook Express (distributed by Microsoft as part of Internet Explorer) or Eudora , you can configure the program so that all email you send and receive is done using a SSL connection.  In addition to POP3 Email clients, we also offer web based email via a SSL Browser connection directly to our mail server.  Since all email activity is done  via the SSL Browser connection, your email is secure. This is the easiest way to encrypt the message while it is traveling between computers.  If you want to actually encrypt your mail message located on our servers you would need to use a program called PGP.  You web site control panel has an "Add On Wizard" which allows you to add PGP encryption to your site and also shows you how to configure your PC to receive such mail.  For details, see the wizard link.
Setting up your Email program:
Outlook Express Setup  1. Start Outlook Express  2. Select Tools. Accounts at the top of Outlook Express  3. Select the Mail Tab  4. Select the account you wish to secure and click Properties  5. Select the Advanced Tab  6. Check the boxes next to "This secure requires a secure connection (SSL)"  7. Enter 465 for the Outgoing mail (SMTP) port  8. Confirm that the Incoming mail (POP3) port defaults to 995  9. Click OK to close the mail account properties 10. Click CLOSE to close the account setup and return to Outlook Express  All Done! Click Send/Recv to send/receive your email using SSL.  Eudora Setup  1. Start Eudora  2. Select Tools, Options at the top of Eudora  3. Select the Getting Started icon  4. Set Mail Server (Incoming): to mail1.thebook.com  5. Set SMTP Server (Outgoing): to mail2.thebook.com  6. Select the Checking Mail icon  7. Confirm Mail Server is set to mail2.thebook.com  8. Under Secure Sockets when receiving: select "Require, Alternate Port"  9. Select the Sending Mail icon 10. Confirm SMTP Server is set to mail2.thebook.com 11. Under Secure Sockets when sending: select "If Available, STARTTLS" 12. Click OK to save your changes and return to Eudora.   13. click OK to exit Options All Done! Click File, Check Mail to check your mail.
Secure File Transfer :
FTP with SSL: Securing file transfers is a little trickier.  Most files are transferred over the internet via FTP (File Transfer Protocol).  With FTP, your incoming connection connects to port 21 on the remote computer.  The FTP Server software  listening at port 21 then sets up the connection and sends information back to your computer on a different port number.  Due to the nature of most FTP server software, a SSL connection is impossible because of the use of the different ports.  There is some current FTP Server software being developed to support a FTP-SSL connection by forcing all data transfers to use the same port 21 and we will be looking into them as the development progresses. SCP with SSH: An alternative to a SSL connection is a SSH (Secure SHell).  SSH provides similar data encryption between your computer and the remote host.  SSH does not use a Server Certificate as SSL does.  Instead, your computer and the remote computer exchange keys.  These keys are used to encrypt the data back and forth.  You computer uses the remote computer's key to encrypt the packets it sends and packets coming back to your computer from the remote computer have been encrypted with your key.  Using a SSH connection, it is possible to login to the remote computer similar to telnet.  Once a SSH connection has been established, it is possible to transfer files over this secure connection.  This is normally done via command line commands, but we have found an excellent GUI client which works similar to a FTP program.  You can download it from ftp://ftp.thebook.com/pub/thebook/download/ixplorer_017.zip.  SSH access requires telnet access.  There is a $5/month charge depending on your service level.  Please click here to request telnet access. Secure iXplorer Setup Start Secure iXplorer.  Secure iXplorer will look similiar to: Secure iXplorer File Options View Local Remote Help Local Directories Local Files (In the selected   local directory) SSH Hosts  and Remote Directories Remote Files SSH Command Summary File Transfer Status Select Remote, Add SSH Host to open the window "Remote SSH Host Properties" Host Display Name: user1   (the "bookmark" name to refer to this site) Host and Location: user1.thebook.com UserName: your unix userid (ie your FTP userid) Click OK to save and exit Remote SSH Host Properties This will create a new entry named user1 under SSH Hosts, double click this to begin your session.  This will open a window  "Enter Network Password"  where you should enter your FTP/Telnet password  Once connected, you will see Window 4 fill in with your remote files.   Uploading Files : Using the Local Directories/Files windows to locate the file Upload the file by dragging & dropping the file/directory file in the Local Files window to the Remote Files window.   Setting Permissions : You can also right click on the file, select Properties and set the unix file permissions.