New PCI compliant - emails....HELP

[gacollege]

Ok - I have just been informed that I will no longer be able to get my emails through hotmail.com. Something about PCI compliant and POP3 / IMAP.....

I am not much of a web tech guru - but all I want is my emails to come to my hotmail account as they are ....I see that hotmail is not supported by IMAP (heck I dont even understand IMAP)... but GMAIL is supported by IMAP...

I really like hotmail... and my folders are set up...wished I could create email in GMAIL and have it forward to hotmail... not sure if that is possible.

In the end - I need my email to be mobile and I want a copy of my email to come to my phone to alert me that I have an email.

Helpppppp
Richard

[dgent]

Seeing as you must have some hosting space for your site, then you must be able to create email acccounts, ie an email like [email protected] etc

So create an email address, and just set up a forwarder to your hotmail account.

[gacollege]

That is what I have now.....but my host is telling me that due to PCI compliance - email cannot be retrieved unless IMAP.???

[schoolboy]

IMAP has nothing to do with zencart... it is the relationship between the server (mail-server) and your email software (client) on your computer.

What you MAY be referring to is the email TRANSPORT method, and it is probable that this needs to be set to SMTPAUTH.

This will require an address in your c-panel, and then that address is used in your zencart.

In your email settings, choose SMTPAUTH as the transport method, and then at the BOTTOM of the email settings screen you will see what you need to insert to make it work...

[schoolboy]

If you then want to FORWARD the messages you get via the store to your hotmail address, then set up a FORWARDER on c-panel...

It is NOT A GOOD IDEA to reflect "hotmail" addresses on a webshop. It comes across as very unprofessional to customers. It makes you look like you are running your business in the garden shed. (And even if you are running from the garden shed, you don't want to give the impression that you are...)

[gacollege]

No I use my domain name ... for example [email protected].

My host is telling me that "you have to connect to the our server using a fully encrypted connection SSL3 or TLS."

I am currently going into my hotmail account and setting my hotmail to retrieve my email from [email protected]. They are telling me to remain PCI compliant - I cannot do this anymore.

[gacollege]

but I am wanting my hotmail to be the place where I am getting my mail......

[DrByte]

Um ... "email"?????
What information are you emailing that has any relevance to PCI in the first place? What sensitive information is involved?

[gacollege]

Um ... "email"?????
What information are you emailing that has any relevance to PCI in the first place? What sensitive information is involved?

Nothing....... nothing at all... that is kind of what has me confused...

My host is telling me that "you have to connect to the our server using a fully encrypted connection SSL3 or TLS." Which I interpret that my hotmail when synced to pull down my mail from her server - cannot connect.

I appreciate everyone's input here!

Thanks,

Richard

[DrByte]

Oh, so this is about your HOSTING COMPANY imposing limitations around email as part of their PCI Compliance changes.

This has nothing to do with Zen Cart at all.

Summary:
- You have an account with the hosting company, and have an email account as part of those services
- You are not presently using that email account directly
- Instead, you are using Hotmail to login and collect your emails for you, and show them in your hotmail account
- Your host is no limiting the methods by which you can collect emails, and is preparing to disable POP access, which is required by the Hotmail tools that login and pull your emails from your host into your Hotmail account.
- You also probably have your Hotmail set up to "send email as" your business email address, which possibly requires hotmail to login to your hosting company's server and send the email for you.
- Since your hosting company is requiring more secure logins, the "send as" option may no longer work either.

You have several options, which you will have to sort out with your hosting company:
- Login to your hosting company's mailserver yourself and read your emails there, yourself. Bypassing the use of Hotmail for your business email altogether.
- Perhaps your hosting company can set up an automated forwarder to push your emails directly to your hotmail account for you, entirely skipping the inbox on your hosting account's server
- Lobby Hotmail to enable secure means of providing their email collection services. Surely you're not the only person who's been faced with this sort of situation.
- Dump hotmail in favor of a more contemporary service, or as mentioned earlier, just use your hosting company's email directly, either via webmail or by logging in with a normal PC application or mobile device.

But, to clarify, none of this has anything to do with Zen Cart, nor with PCI Compliance related to your store. It's stuff your hosting company is imposing as part of THEIR efforts to attain PCI certification, which does of course benefit you in the end, since you do want your store running on a PCI Compliant host.

While what your host is doing with email seems a little excessive, it's certainly in your best interests, since it will make access to your email more secure, thus minimizing risks of hacking and so on.

In short, the problem here is really a technical limitation imposed on you by Hotmail. If you weren't married to Hotmail then none of this would be a problem.