End of Life - TLS 1.0 and 1.1

End of Life - TLS 1.0 and 1.1

EarthLink Email - End of Life TLS 1.0 and 1.1  

EarthLink Email will end support for TLS 1.0 and 1.1 on July 17, 2023. Email clients configured to use email encryption that cannot support TLS 1.2 will not be able to authenticate and receive email after July 17, 2023. 

Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a protocol used to encrypt internet communications and protect sensitive information. TLS protection for your email is an optional feature that can be turned on in most email clients when you enable encryption. The current minimal standard for email TLS security is TLS version 1.2. Older versions such as TLS 1.0 or 1.1 are considered “deprecated” and are no longer considered secure. Deprecated security settings may pose security risks, leaving your system vulnerable to attacks. 
Unfortunately, many older email clients do not support the latest version of TLS: TLS 1.2.  If your email software does not support TLS 1.2 or higher, your email client may not be able to connect to our servers securely, which could put your personal information at risk. To ensure that your email client continues to function properly, you will need to update your email client to a version that supports TLS 1.2 before July 17, 2023. If your email client cannot be updated to a newer version that supports TLS 1.2, you will need to either install a new email application that does support TLS 1.2 or disable encryption in your email settings in order to continue receiving email.  
 
If I'm using an older email program that does not support TLS 1.2 what will I experience? 

The initial change will affect sending email, but receiving will be affected soon as well.  What you may see initially is you can receive email, but receive an error from your email client when you try to send email.  However, some email programs will automatically switch to not using TLS at all and continue to work normally, only in a non-secured state.

What happens if I do not update my email client by July 17, 2023, will I no longer be able to use my older email client? 

Mostly likely nothing will happen as most email programs that supported TLS 1.0 or 1.1 were configured to only use those options "if they were available" and to connect without them if they are not available.  You will likely still be able to use your email client, but it will not support encrypted settings any longer.  

However, if sending email in an encrypted state is important to you, then you will need to update to a newer email client.  If your email client forces a TLS connection, when sending for example, and that client cannot support TLS 1.2, on July 17, 2023, you will no longer be able to authenticate your email account from that software until you turn off TLS/SSL or switch to another newer email client that supports TLS1.2 or higher.
 
How can I tell if my email client supports TLS 1.2? 

Modern email clients that have been updated in the last 3 years should support TLS 1.2.  However, it is not always easy to tell if your email client is using an older version of TLS.    
Software supporting TLS 1.2: 
  1. Apple Mail: 10 and newer (Sierra)
  2. Outlook for Mac: 2016 and newer
  3. Outlook for Windows: 2013 and newer
  4. Thunderbird: 31 and newer
  5. OpenSSL based software as of 1.0.1
  6. MacOS: Sierra (10.12) and newer
  7. Windows: 8 and newer 
If you use any software in the list above, then you’re all done! 

Software that will NOT supporting TLS 1.2+ in its native state: 
  1. Apple Mail: 9.3 and older
  2. Eudora
  3. Microsoft Entourage
  4. Outlook for Mac: 2012 and older
  5. Outlook for Windows: 2010 and older
  6. Thunderbird 27 and older
  7. Windows Live Mail
  8. OpenSSL based software older than 1.0.1
  9. Android: 4 and older
  10. iOS: 4 and older
  11. MacOS: El Capitan (10.11) and older
  12. Windows: 7 and older 

If you use any software in the list above then you will need to update your email client or use EarthLink Webmail. 
 
My email only supports TLS 1.0 or 1.1.  Can’t I get by with out-of-date encryption?  

To maintain secure email encryption, EarthLink needs to disable support for TLS 1.0 and 1.1 on the server level.  As encryption needs to be able to talk to a server that can decrypt the information it is passing on, the loss of 1.1 and 1.0 support on the server level means the email client will not be able to communicate with the server.  The fix is to either update the email client to a version that can support TLS 1.2 or turn off encryption.   

Additionally, as TLS 1.0 and 1.1 are considered deprecated, it means malicious individuals with access to your current internet connection can use easily obtain information from the internet on how to compromise your email client despite having encryption enabled. Security requires keeping up-to-date with technology changes to stay ahead of bad actors.  
 
My email client does not support TLS 1.2. How do I turn off encryption? 

Turning off encryption is different from email client to email client.  Generally, under your email client’s settings you will have either a check box or a drop-down menu that enables encryption or allows you to select the version of encryption you would like to use.  Simply unchecking the option or selecting none will turn off encryption.  However, you may need to review your server port numbers after making the change to ensure they have reverted to the correct settings.  

Outlook Express:
  1. Tools, Accounts, Mail tab, select your account and click Properties.   
    1. Click the Advanced tab.   
    2. Uncheck “This server requires a secure connection (SSL)” under both Outgoing and Incoming mail settings.   
    3. Make sure Outgoing email’s port number remains 587 
    4. Incoming server port number:
      1. If you are using pop.earthlink.net or mail.earthlink.net set to 110
      2. If you are using imap.earthlink.net set to 143 
    5. Click OK and then Close to close out of the settings. 

 
 
Thunderbird:
There are many older versions of Thunderbird that do not support TLS 1.2.  It is recommended you use Thunderbird’s Update feature to update to the latest version as this will carry over your email and settings.  However, if you cannot update Thunderbird you will need to access your Account Settings to turn off encryption.  From the Account Settings (Tools, Account settings on some versions or the Menu option on the top right, Options, Account Settings): 
  1. Click on server settings under your email account (this is your incoming server settings).
  2. Connection Security – Select None.
  3. Server Name (incoming):
    1. Server Type POP: pop.earthlink.net or mail.earthlink.net port set to 110
    2. Server Type IMAP:  imap.earthlink.net set to 143 
  4. Click on Outgoing Server in the left menu.
  5. Select your outgoing email server option and click Edit.
  6. Connection Security – Select None.
    1. Server Name:  smtpauth.earthlink.net on port 587
  7. Click OK 

 
 

Mac Mail 10.8 (and older) 
  1. Open Mac Mail 10.8 and go to the Mail menu at the top of the screen.
  2. Select Preferences from the drop-down menu.
  3. Click on the Accounts tab.
  4. Choose the email account you want to modify from the list on the left-hand side.
  5. Click on the Advanced tab.
  6. Under the Advanced tab, look for the checkbox labeled "Use SSL" or "Use secure sockets layer (SSL)" and uncheck it.
  7. If there is an option for "Use TLS/SSL," uncheck that as well.
  8. Ensure your server port numbers are correct
    1. Incoming server port number:
      1. If you are using pop.earthlink.net or mail.earthlink.net set to 110
      2. If you are using imap.earthlink.net set to 143 
    2. Outgoing Server port number:  smtpauth.earthlink.net on port 587
  9. Click the Save button to save the changes. 
 
Eudora
Eudora's manufacture ended official support for Eudora when they open-sourced it in 2007.  The last official update for Eudora was in 2006 long before TLS 1.2 was designed.  While there are third party open-source "patches" for Eudora and SSL, they are not guaranteed to work.  EarthLink cannot assist in troubleshooting any product that is considered past its end of life by its developer. 


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