Welcome to the GeneticMail help center!

Search results for keyword "password":

1. About Passwords
2. Changing Your Password
3. Connecting With Microsoft Outlook
4. For More Password Information
5. If You Forget Your Password
6. Password Tips and Guidelines
7. What Are "Special Characters"?
8. Why Strong Passwords Are Important

About Passwords

With GeneticMail, you use the same password to access all of our services. For security we reasons, we require that your password contains at least one number and one special character. Passwords that consist of only letters (especially passwords that are actual words in the dictionary) are much easier to guess than passwords that contain numbers and special characters. In fact, hackers have written programs that try to guess passwords by guessing every permutation of words and slang in dictionaries from several languages, as well as lists of proper nouns. (Guessing a password in this manner is called a "dictionary attack".) Using more than just letters and numbers vastly increases the number of possible passwords, making passwords harder to guess.

 

Changing Your Password

To change your password, follow these instructions:

• Log in to the GeneticMail WebMail client.
• Click Preferences.
• Click Name & Password.
• Enter your current password in the "Current Password:" field.
• Enter your new password in the "New Password:" field.
• Enter your new password again in the "Confirm New Password:" field.
• Click the "Save Settings" button to the right of and just below the "Confirm New Password:" field.
• If you entered the password information correctly, you should now see "Settings Saved Successfully" at the top of the page.

 

Connecting With Microsoft Outlook

When configuring Microsoft Outlook to connect to GeneticMail, use the following account settings:

• Incoming server, port: imap.geneticmail.com, 993
• Make sure "This server requires an encrypted connection (SSL)" is checked
• Outgoing server, port: smtp.geneticmail.com, 465
• Make sure "This server requires an encrypted connection (SSL)" is checked
• Make sure "Log on using Secure Password Authentication" is not checked
• Make sure "My outgoing server requires authentication" is checked

 

For More Password Information

Just search with your favorite search engine for the words "good password guidelines" to learn more about passwords. We recommend using Google.

 

If You Forget Your Password

If you forget your password, go to this URL:

https://www.geneticmail.com/mailgene/forgot_password.jsp

You can also get to that page by following the "Forgot Your Password?" link on the WebMail login page.

Enter your username in the field on the page and click "Submit". You will be shown your "Password Recovery" question, which you entered on our registration form. Enter your "Password Recovery" answer in the field on the page and click "Submit". You will now be given a new password. We cannot show you your old password because, for security reasons, we do not store your password in an unencrypted format.

Once you receive your new password, we recommend that you immediately log in and change your password to something memorable. For help changing your password, click here.

 

Password Tips and Guidelines

Try to think of your password as a phrase instead of just a word. Many common phrases include numbers ("one too many" could be written as "12many", for example). Another strategy is to replace certain letters in words with numbers. Here is a quick guide for possible replacements:

• 1 = L
• 3 = E
• 4 = A
• 5 = S
• 6 = b
• 7 = T
• 9 = g
• 0 = o

Special characters can also be used to replace words in phrases ("one at a time" could be written as "1@atime", for example). Here are some ways to pronounce special characters, many of which will be familiar to you:

• ! = "bang"
• @ = "at"
• # = "pound"
• $ = "dollar"
• % = "per cent"
• ^ = "carrot"
• & = "and"
• * = "star"

Beyond meeting the requirement of including one number and one special character, you may wish to follow these guidelines for creating strong passwords:

1. to defeat dictionary attacks, deliberately misspell any words you use in your password
2. use upper and lower case letters
3. do not repeat any character two or more times in a row (e.g. "99" or "%%")
4. do not use personal data such as birthdays, phone or social security numbers, addresses, etc.

 

What Are "Special Characters"?

A "special character" is a character that is not a letter or a number. Some examples are:

• !
• @
• #
• $
• %
• ^

 

Why Strong Passwords Are Important

It may seem difficult to have to remember passwords that are not common words, but if a hacker cracks your password, he or she could:

1. read your mail
2. send mail from your account, including spam, hate mail, threats, viruses, pornography, illegal software or files, etc. to anyone
3. use your account as a tool for gaining further access to our system, endangering the accounts of all of our users

At best, the activities of a hacker would negatively affect not only your reputation but that of GeneticMail. As a small company, our reputation is extremely important to our business. At worst, a hacker's activities could directly affect the service we provide to our customers, including you. Consequently we feel justified in enforcing some minimal password requirements.