Today No-IP.com lauched custom challenge emails for Anti-spam ECR. If you don’t know what Anti-spam ECR is, you should take a look at it. Basically, instead of having all kinds of automated sources slinging email at you, Anti-spam filters out the non-human ones. If you do want messages from automated sources you can easily add them to your authorized senders list. There are a host of other features as well. Anti-spam ECR simple, easy, and it keeps your Inbox spam free. And now it is even more customizable!

Get ‘em while they’re hot! Fresh new SSL certificates available right now at No-IP™. No-IP announces the ability to offer the security of Secure Link SSL Certificates to our customers. A Secure Link SSL certificate from No-IP.com shows your customers that your web site is safe for them to submit their credit card and other personal data. No matter if you have a static or dynamic IP address, a big business or small, No-IP offers the best value in SSL certificates.

The Secure Link SSL Certificates offer comprehensive authentication procedures (domain name and identity verification) for a high level of security protection. It confirms that you are who you say you are in a virtual world, encrypts information sent to and from your web server and protects data from tampering. It’s ideal for any web site, intranet or extranet that needs the safety of secure online transactions.

Unlike some cheap alternatives that claim to offer your customers security, a Secure Link SSL Certificate is only issued after a comprehensive validation process. To ensure proper issuance of your SSL certificate, the following validation steps will take place before a certificate is issued:

A) We verify that the Account Holder Information provided in your application:
• Matches the registrant information in the Whois database.
• Corresponds with credible providers of business information such as Dun & Bradstreet, Articles of Incorporation, Business Licenses, etc. If any other documentation or information is required during this step, we will contact you.

B) We will also telephone your organization to confirm:

• An order was placed for your SSL certificate.
• The person who placed the order is authorized to do so.

For more information about our SSL certificates and to see which one is right for you, please follow this link.

Today No-IP lauched SSL encryption for Alternate-port SMTP. Now clients like Outlook and Mail.app can use an encrypted channel to submit their email. Simply set the correct port and turn on SSL encryption in your client and you are done! The ports are these:

Outlook and Outlook Express (implicit SSL clients)
Use port 465 and check the Use SSL Encryption check box.

All other modern email clients, STARTTLS enabled (explicit SSL clients, e.g. Thunderbird, Mail.app, Evolution)
Use port 3325 or port 587 and check the Use SSL Encryption check box.

This information can be found in the No-IP FAQ item, Does No-IP provide encrypted mail transfer (SSL)?

And, as a bonus, here is a little geek knowledge. Implicit SSL means that SSL is implied, that from the moment the connection is made all data is going to be encrypted. Explicit SSL means that the client must explicitly request SSL. Basically, when a connection is made the server announces that it can do SSL and the client says that it wants it. From that point forward the channel is encrypted.

Implicit SSL is used for SMTPS on port 465, but that standard is deprecated in favor of the more adaptable STARTTLS (RFC 3207). TLS stands for Transport Layer Security and has become a standard for protocols like SMTP. STARTTLS offers the convenience of one port with both plain text and encrypted channel and in that right is more versatile than implicit SSL. Most modern email clients support STARTTLS, save Outlook and Outlook Express. Perhaps in the next version.