# Something you should do soon if you use Gmail **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 19, 2008, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-should-do-soon-if-you-use-gmail/460602 "2008-08-19T22:12:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-should-do-soon-if-you-use-gmail/460602/1 "2008-08-19T22:12:19Z")
[Slashdot story](http://it.slashdot.org/it/08/08/19/1433206.shtml) The short version is that there is a new exploit that can be used to hack into gmail accounts if you don’t use SSL. If you want to set up your gmail to always use SSL, go into the Settings page. Near the bottom of the page on the General tab, there will be an option for browser connection. Choose “Always use https” and save your settings. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-should-do-soon-if-you-use-gmail/460602/2 "2008-08-19T22:21:20Z")
Done - thanks for the warning. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-should-do-soon-if-you-use-gmail/460602/3 "2008-08-19T22:24:45Z")
I also thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-should-do-soon-if-you-use-gmail/460602/4 "2008-08-19T22:30:11Z")
Thanks for the warning. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-should-do-soon-if-you-use-gmail/460602/5 "2008-08-19T22:39:26Z")
Yikes! Thanks and done and bumpbadabump for the other Dopers! ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-should-do-soon-if-you-use-gmail/460602/6 "2008-08-19T23:06:56Z")
Eep, thanks for the warning! ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-should-do-soon-if-you-use-gmail/460602/7 "2008-08-19T23:32:09Z")
I use outlook express to access my gmail - just because I can check all 3 of my accounts at once. Any word on how this is affected? ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-should-do-soon-if-you-use-gmail/460602/8 "2008-08-20T00:18:55Z")
Thanks, have passed this on. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-should-do-soon-if-you-use-gmail/460602/9 "2008-08-20T00:33:01Z")
Hmmm, I don’t seem to have that option on the General tab under settings. ```auto Language: Mail display language: Maximum page size: Show conversations per page Keyboard shortcuts: Keyboard shortcuts off Keyboard shortcuts on My picture: Visible to everyone Visible only to people I can chat with Contacts' pictures: Show all pictures Only show pictures that I've chosen for my contacts Signature: Personal level indicators: No indicators Show indicators Snippets: Show snippets No snippets - Show subject only. Vacation responder: Vacation responder off Vacation responder on Subject: Message: Only send a response to people in my Contacts Outgoing message encoding: Use default text encoding for outgoing messages Use Unicode (UTF-8) encoding for outgoing messages ``` That’s all I’ve got. ---
**Author:** ![Most\_Creative\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Most\_Creative\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Most_Creative_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-should-do-soon-if-you-use-gmail/460602/10 "2008-08-20T00:42:51Z")
Thank you! I passed this along to all of the people I know that use gmail. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-should-do-soon-if-you-use-gmail/460602/11 "2008-08-20T01:01:00Z")
[QUOTE=Shayna] Hmmm, I don’t seem to have that option on the General tab under settings. [/QUOTE] Are you using gmail on a custom domain? I don’t have it on my domain email either, but you can still use SSL by just going to [Sign in - Google Accounts](https://mail.google.com/a/yourdomain.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-should-do-soon-if-you-use-gmail/460602/12 "2008-08-20T01:06:17Z")
[QUOTE=friedo] Are you using gmail on a custom domain? I don’t have it on my domain email either, but you can still use SSL by just going to [Sign in - Google Accounts](https://mail.google.com/a/yourdomain.com/) [/QUOTE] I am using a custom domain, but I just noticed that I’m not using the https prefix, but just http. So if I change the default start page to https: etc, that will do the trick without choosing a different setting? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-should-do-soon-if-you-use-gmail/460602/13 "2008-08-20T01:14:10Z")
[QUOTE=Shayna] I am using a custom domain, but I just noticed that I’m not using the https prefix, but just http. So if I change the default start page to https: etc, that will do the trick without choosing a different setting? [/QUOTE] Yes, as long as you always remember to do that. You can confirm that you’re in SSL mode because your browser will display a lock icon (and FireFox turns the address bar yellow.) ---
**Author:** ![JustAnotherGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/58f4c7/32.png) [@JustAnotherGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustAnotherGeek)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-should-do-soon-if-you-use-gmail/460602/14 "2008-08-20T02:05:14Z")
Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Merhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Merhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merhouse)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-should-do-soon-if-you-use-gmail/460602/15 "2008-08-20T03:35:07Z")
Just another thank you pile on. I had no idea. And now I do 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-should-do-soon-if-you-use-gmail/460602/16 "2008-08-20T03:56:40Z")
Thanks from here too. I have two G-mail accounts, my own and the school district’s, which is a Google client. Out e-mails are still “@bigassschooldistrict.org”, but it’s a G-mail account. On that one, I didn’t find this option at all. I’ll try to change the prefix and see what happens. ---
**Author:** ![Salem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@Salem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Salem)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-should-do-soon-if-you-use-gmail/460602/17 "2008-08-20T04:19:52Z")
Another thanks. I feel so much safer now. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-should-do-soon-if-you-use-gmail/460602/18 "2008-08-20T04:21:03Z")
Glad I saw this. Thanks from me as well. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-should-do-soon-if-you-use-gmail/460602/19 "2008-08-20T07:00:58Z")
I’ve done this also and encountered a bug with my Gmail Notifier. It wouldn’t connect to my Gmail after I enabled SSL. Google has released a patch for those of you encountering this bug. Go to the [Gmail Known Issues](http://mail.google.com/support/bin/static.py?page=known_issues.cs) page and scroll to the last entry under Logging In where it says “Notifier cannot connect to mailbox with ‘Always use https’ setting enabled” and click on that entry. Download the patch, a .zip file, and extract it. In the folder, double click on the notifier\_https.reg file. Click Yes when asked to confirm. Restart your Notifier. Issue fixed. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-should-do-soon-if-you-use-gmail/460602/20 "2008-08-20T14:55:12Z")
Just another “thank you”. Have sorted mine out and will sort out my father’s Gmail later today. Not that Dad has any truck with Paypal etc but am not taking any chances. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-should-do-soon-if-you-use-gmail/460602.md?page=2)