December 2, 2024 – Today, we noticed a number of email accounts which had been compromised and accessed from a residential Spectrum account in Pennsylvania.   This was very concerning because these accounts seemed unrelated and so we were worried that attackers had somehow been able to access the password database on our email system.    However, after further investigation, we do not believe this to be the case.   All of the affected accounts were using plain text username and passwords rather than logging in over secure channels (TLS/SSL).   With plain text, the data can be “snooped” over the network and we believe these users had/have compromised routers which are gathering this data.

 

We have already blocked the IP address which was accessing the compromised accounts.  We are currently in the process of reaching out to customers with these accounts to advise them to update their passwords and change any accounts which may have used the same password.   We are also investigating customer’s networks to see if they may have a compromised router.

 

Important Settings Change Coming – For years, we have offered authentication over secure channels (TLS/SSL).  This type of connection is very much like the HTTPS connection you use on a website which takes credit cards.  The connection encrypts the data so that it cannot be read by a third-party.   In the past, this has been optional but recommended.    Because of this incident, we are going to enforce the use of SSL/TLS on ALL client devices on January 14, 2024.  If you are currently connecting with a device that is not using SSL/TLS, it will ask for a password and even if you enter the correct password, it will not authenticate successfully.    Our settings can be found here:  https://netsolinc.com/email-settings     It is important to update those settings before January 14, 2025 to make sure your email client does not get interrupted.   Note: this will NOT affect emails being delivered to our servers.

If you need assistance with updating your settings, please contact us at 256-547-6817 or via the chat box in the lower right of this page.