Tufts has restricted off-campus access to the University's e-mail system after America Online (AOL) threatened to block all e-mail messages sent from Tufts accounts to AOL accounts. According to University IT Support Director Dan Weir, AOL users were being flooded with mass e-mails - or "spam" - sent illicitly through a security loophole in Tufts' network.
Off-campus students who attempted to use popular Microsoft Outlook and Netscape Messenger e-mail clients may have noticed that they can no longer send mail to non-Tufts accounts. A group of online service providers, including AOL, cited potential security holes that allowed unauthorized users to use Tufts' e-mail servers as a portal for sending spam.
This has created headaches for students using an e-mail program such as Outlook who wish to e-mail friends and family outside of the Tufts community.
It has long been University policy that off-campus students are not permitted to use Tufts servers to send e-mail. But it was only recently that off-campus residents were blocked from Tufts' servers. AOL told Tufts that it would no longer accept e-mail from any Tufts address unless the University implemented these policies.
"It is ironic that AOL forced us to require user identification when they are the reason we had left [the server] open," said Dan Weir, director of University IT Support Services. Tufts Computing and Communication Services (TCCS) had allowed off-campus access, Weir said, so that students using AOL and other services during vacations could still read their e-mail.
Weir said that Tufts complied with AOL's request because TCCS was worried that students would not be able to communicate with friends and family who only have AOL accounts. "We were concerned that our students, faculty, and staff would not be able to send e-mail home to anyone that had an aol.com address," Weir said. "We are confident that we can help our community address the change, but we would not be able to get around the AOL block."
Tufts had little choice but to act quickly to ensure that e-mail could be delivered promptly. Tufts asked for more time so that the transition could be gradual, but AOL did not respond.
This change will be permanent, but TCCS is working to add authenticated service, which would allow users to access the Tufts server with a user name and ID. Off-campus students may still send e-mail using SecureCRT software.
Internet upgrade 50 percent complete
Tufts Computing and Communication Services (TCCS) is forced to adapt the University's computing infrastructure as the information superhighway evolves. Most recently, Tufts implemented restrictions to off-campus e-mail access and upgraded the University's Internet connections.
While the outgoing e-mail adjustment might be a source of frustration, TCCS is hoping to please students and faculty by increasing the speed and quality of the University's Internet connection. The implementation of the new network, known as Internet2, is a four-year process run by TCCS, and is expected to be complete in 2003.
Internet2 is a national consortium of the 187 largest research institutions in the country. Along with government and industry partners, the consortium is working to develop untra-high-speed networks, according to its website, www.internet2.edu.
This system will help connect Tufts students to information at the other Universities in the consortium at high speeds via Internet2's high-performance network, known as Abilene. Annual subscription fees paid by members of the consortium fund the network.
Membership in the consortium requires that schools upgrade their campus network to allow high-speed access to the Abilene network. This upgrade will greatly increase the speed at which students access the Internet.
The Tufts Trustees created a fund for this purpose in 1999, and raised millions of dollars. Additional funding has come from the National Science Foundation, who has provided funding to all universities in the consortium. Other members include Harvard, Princeton, and Boston University.
"Every building on campus will have its network wiring and electronics replaced or upgraded; this work is approximately 50 percent complete," said Lesley Tolman, director of networking and telecommunications at TCCS.
TCCS has labeled this project the Advanced Networking Initiative because it sees the potential for a variety of uses other than the linking of universities. "Over the course of the next few years, we expect to see new uses of networking at Tufts in support of both instruction and research activities," Tolman said.
