One use POP3 at port 110 (normal) but the other one requires POP3 on SSL port 995. How do I make avast! scan incoming mail on both ports?
Same for SMTP. I use one outgoing server at port 25 (normal) and another server that is on the nonstandard port 587. How do I make avast! scan outgoing mail on both ports?
For security reasons, shouldn’t avast! scan ALL normal ports at lease for email (both 110 and 995 for incoming). And at least we must have the possibility to enter more than one port to scan for each service.
avast doesn’t monitor the SSL ports, 995, 587 or otherwise, even if you added these to the ports to be scanned by avast. The whole point of SSL, secure sockets layer (encrypted email is to protect your email from outside intrusion, anti-virus programs included. Trying to scan ports not using the POP3 or standard SMTP protocols usually results in errors.
Depending on your email program avast can’t scan secure content without a third party interface, like STunnel, a forum search for STunnel will return information on this. MS Outlook and The Bat, which have plug-ins designed for the email program means that instead of being outside of the program, avast is effectively integrated with it allowing for scanning of SSL/TLS ports also.
You can add additional ports to the email scanner but they must be using standard email protocols not SSL/TLS ports. I have to use a different port for smtp and I add it to the SMTP list in the Internet Mail provider, e.g. 25, 225 (a non-standard port but using the SMTP protocol).
You don’t want to add 587 if that is for SSL use avast can’t scan it and it usually causes timeout errors, etc. as it stalls trying to scan encrypted email.
avast cannot, may not and never will scan those ports that are used to initiate a secure connection directly between your mail client (or any other mail client) and a mail server. This is just the same as no antivirus will scan secure connections between your browser and your bank account.
So, avast is not going to be able to scan POP3 SSL connections (typically on port 995) or TLS SMTP connections (typically - but not exclusively - on port 587). As DavidR has reported here and I have reported in the past - any attempt to involve avast in scanning TLS connections on port 587 will fail.
Frankly, if your email server already provides antivirus scanning of your email (as GMail - a user of secure port connections - does for example) then there is little advantage in having avast scan the same emails again. However, that must be a decision for each user to make.
DavidR has advised you correctly that if you wish to have secure email scanned that is received or sent then you must use a third party program that will terminate/initiate the secure session within your computer but allow the mail to be received/sent by the mail client on an unsecured session that can be scanned by avast. Remember that the unsecured email session is transferred to the secure session within your computer. The best known third party program is STunnel.
For a graphic of STunnel use with avast please see:
OK, forget about the SSL and TSL. I still need to scan several ports. One SMTP server uses the standard 25, the other uses 587 (for normal SMTP, not SSL or TSL). How do I make avast! scan both these servers?
There are some who believe that, because their mail client gives them options, they may dictate the connection status to their mail server. In most cases they are wrong and must conform to the connection status demanded by their mail server.
Sorry. It was a bit to simple :-))