Effective July 1st, 2009 we will no longer accept anonymous or plain text SMTP connections on our ExchangeDefender network. If you are using the SMTP protocol to connect to the Hosted Exchange please switch them to MAPI or RPC over HTTPS. If you have limitations requiring you to continue using SMTP, please note that you will only be able to connect to the servers using SMTP over SSL.

Again: No port 25 connectivity will be alllowed starting July 1st. This change affects Exchange 2007 network only, we will issue separate alerts for Exchange 2003 network, Zimbra network and our Virtual Hosting SMTP mail later next quarter.

This change is a part of our effort to improve the security of the network and eliminate direct connections by SPAM bots. Please stay tuned to this blog, one of the major areas of focus next quarter is improvement of overall security and controls on the ever-growing OWN network.