FAQ's
What is Benign?
Answer: Benign is a system for processing and filtering email as it is downloaded. The aim of the processing and filtering operations is to remove a number of potential risks to your privacy and security, including (but not limited to) web bugs, scripting viruses, worms, trojans and other potentially malicious content.
How does Benign work?
Answer: In the absence of a system such as Benign, email programs download new messages by contacting the remote server on which their email is currently stored and using a standard Internet protocol, POP3, to perform the download.
Benign is a program that is run on your own computer and works by reconfiguring the email program to contact Benign, instead of the remote server, when downloading messages. Benign can intercept and monitor the POP3 session while it is in progress.
When the email program attempts to download a message, Benign sends the download command on to the remote server, but intercepts the mail as it is sent back from the remote server. Benign then processes and filters the message before passing the message on to the email program.
In this way Benign is able to perform the desired processing and filtering operations on incoming email regardless of the email program software or POP3 server software.
Why should I use Benign and how does it compare to conventional anti-virus products?
Answer: Benign interprets and rewrites every aspect of emails. It protects not only against known security problems but also against a large number of attacks yet to be discovered. Whereas most conventional anti-virus products can only deal with the selection of problems they know about. Benign frees you from the continual "arms race" scramble to protect yourself as new attack vectors are found.
Benign rewrites the email to guarantee that the end-user mail software will interpret it as it should - unlike conventional anti-virus products, which are easy to defeat by exploiting differences in the filtering software and the end-user mail software.
The key thing that makes Benign different is the approach that Benign takes to ensure the security of its users. The majority of conventional anti-virus products have attempted to solve the problem by trying to scan for the specific problems they are aware of. Benign does it "the proper way" - it fully decodes the email, removes anything dangerous or malicious and then rewrites the email in such a way as to guarantee that it will be interpreted by the mail software as it should be.
This last point is critical. A number of commercial mail-filtering alternatives to Benign examine the email and determine whether it seems to be safe. However, their failing is that they assume that the mail software itself interprets the email in the same way that they do, but since they do not rewrite the email as they understand it, there is no such guarantee. Therefore, there are many ways to construct emails such that the mail gateway will allow it through, having interpreted it one way, but the mail software sees something quite different. The problem is especially bad due to the sheer number of alternative ways of encoding a given email, using (for example) Unicode, which, unlike Benign, most content-filtering software cannot interpret.
Benign's protection functionality includes:
* Removing known dangerous attachments.
* Removing possibly dangerous attachments.
* Filtering maliciously constructed attachment filenames that can exploit buffer overflows, or confuse the user into believing the file is of another type.
* Removing scripting and embedded tags and attributes from HTML emails.
* Removing other non-standard tags that can be used to sneak scripting and other attacks into emails.
* Removing layers, frames and other tags that can be used to load web pages in the email, bypassing mail gateway content and spam filtering and opening additional avenues of attack.
Further functionality Benign provides is privacy protection, primarily by filtering web bugs. (What is a web bug?) Web bugs have risen to prominence in the last year, primarily due to their role in confirming that a recipient's address is working, and have become one of the most valued items in the toolboxes of spammers and direct marketers. Web bugs provide a nearly guaranteed way to determine what addresses are still working, which of those recipients are viewing the emails and even information such as how long the email was viewed for and from what country.
Benign examines every image in the email (and other such remote content) and checks to see if it is a web bug; if so, it filters it. Benign can filter not only web bugs from known web bug providers, but can also detect images that are most probably web bugs, based on the URL and other attributes and filter them also. Combined with the protection provided by Benign's security filtering (to ensure, for example, that scripting cannot be used to inject web bugs), this provides Benign with "best of breed" privacy protection for email.
How do I start using Benign?
Answer: Download and install the software. During installation of Benign you will be asked what level of security is required - Low, Medium or High. We recommend Low for the first time users. That is all you have to do. Benign runs in the background and does all the work for you. No intervention from you is required.
What is the current version of Benign?
Answer: Current Benign version is 1.50 (1.5.0.2)
Which operating systems does Benign run on?
Answer: Benign runs on the following Windows operating systems:
* 95
* 98
* Me
* NT 4
* 2000, and
* XP
* Vista (Benign is not Vista ready but will run on Vista)
* Windows 7 (Benign is not Vista ready but will run on Windows 7)
What are the minimum requirements to run Benign ?
Answer: Operating system: Windows 95, 98, Me, NT 4, 2000 or XP.
Free Hard Disk space: 10 Megabytes.
RAM: 32 Megabytes for Windows 95 and 98, 64 Megabytes for all other operating systems.
Processor Speed: 75 MHz or above.
Screen Resolution: 800 x 600 or above, 16 colors or above.
Which email programs does Benign work with?
Answer: * Outlook
* Outlook Express
* Thunderbird
* Netscape Mail / Mozilla Mail
* IncrediMail
* Pegasus Mail
* Windows Mail
Sometimes Benign may fail to detect your mail program. The failure can be for a variety of reasons but the good news is that you can manually configure your mail program and Benign.
Which mail protocols does Benign support?
Answer: At this stage Benign supports only POP3 mail protocol.
Benign will not support Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo mail as they use POP3 SSL. Benign does not currently support POP3 SSL (SSL is an extra layer of security on top of the POP3 protocol).
How can I download Benign?
Answer: Complete the following steps to download Benign:
1. Go to www.firetrust.com/products, select Benign and then click Free Trial, then Download Free Trial. The File Download dialog box displays.
2. Click Save and select a location to download Benign to.
3. Click Save to begin the download.
Benign is approximately 1.2 megabytes in size and takes approximately 4 minutes with a 56k modem to download or about 5 seconds with a DSL connection.
Does Benign run in the background?
Answer: Yes, Benign runs in the background and does not require any input from you.
Can I use Benign with GMail?
Answer: Unfortunately not, as GMail requires SSL which is not compatible with Benign.
Is Benign Vista and Windows 7 ready?
Answer: Benign is not Vista or Windows 7 ready but will run just fine on these operating systems.
When you install Benign on Vista or Windows 7 ensure that you give full Firewall Internet access and full Computer Administrator rights when Vista or Windows 7 prompts you.
If you have any problems then, most of the time, marking Benign to "Run as Administrator" will fix the problem. To do this
Click the Vista Start button > All Programs > Firetrust Benign > and right click on the 'Firetrust Benign' shortcut and left click on 'Run as Administrator' then setup the account as per normal.
If you still have problems then please refer to the trouble shooting guide below. The guide applies to Vista but will equally apply to Windows 7.
Benign is not Windows Vista Operating System ready but will work if you manually unlock the hosts file and run Benign with "Run as Administrator" enabled.
We plan to develop a version of Benign that will run on Vista without any manual intervention of the hosts file but have no release date at this stage.
Vista will lock the Hosts file but users have found that one of the below solutions will enable a work around. I.e. unlock the hosts file for Benign to write to.
1.) Start>>All Programs>>Accessories, right click on Notepad and left click, 'Run as Administrator'
2.) In Notepad click File > Open and browse to, C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc, choose to show 'All Files' rather than the default 'Text Documents(*.txt)' and then open the 'hosts' file. Then click File > Save and then File > Exit
3.) Benign will now be able to write to the Vista 'hosts' file.
Now you want to ensure that Benign runs as administrator.
Click Windows Start > All Programs > Firetrust Benign > and right click on the 'Firetrust Benign' shortcut and left click on 'Run as Administrator' then setup the account as per normal.
My hosts file example.
# Begin B9
127.98.9.1 pop3.myisp.com.b9
127.98.9.2 127.98.9.2 pop3.my2ndisp.com.b9
127.98.9.3 # End B9
Then add the .b9 to your POP3 server your email program.
In Windows Mail click Tools > Accounts > select your mail account > Properties > select Servers at the top > add a .b9 to the end of your POP3 server address > also note down this address before the change > click OK > right click on the shortcut that you use to start Benign, and click, "Run as Administrator" and click, > Tools > Options > Accounts > click Add > enter your POP3 mail address noted earlier (without the .b9) and enter what security setting you desire for this account.
Why do I have to run Benign as "Run as Administrator" in Vista ?
This is because you have User Account Control enabled on Vista. With UAC, an administrative user will run with 2 access tokens at all times only using the administrative token for administrative tasks. The rest of the time your "admin" user is using a standard user token. This is by design of Microsoft .
Run As Administrator
On occasion you may come across an application that, when you come to launch it, refuses to launch due to insufficient user permissions. For example, if you try to launch the boot configuration application, BCDedt, from the Command Window you may get the following message 'The boot configuration data store could not be opened. Access denied.'
When this happens it usually indicates that Windows requires your permission to launch the application. in this situation it is advisable to use the Run as Administrator option.
By using the Run as Administrator option you can allow this application to run once without the need for full administrator privileges.
1/ Locate the applications icon or short cut and Right click on it
2/ From the Drop Down Menu select the Run As Administrator option
3/ Now click the application icon or short cut and it should run
4/ When the User Account Control (UAC) message appears enter the appropriate credentials if you are logged on as a standard user, and click the Submit button
5/ If you are the Administrator and UAC is not configured to always require credentials, just Click the Continue button and the application should start.
Vista blocks Benign every time I start my PC and gives me the message "Windows has blocked some startup programs".
Vista's 'Blocked Startup Programs' is part of Vista's security features and is common with many other programs but there is a 'work around' fix that lets Vista's task scheduler start Benign and thus saves you having to manually click 'Run Blocked Programs' B9.
Solution 1
Right click on your Benign shortcut > with the left mouse button select Properties > select the Compatibility tab at the top > ensure the option "Run as administrator" is checked > click OK.
Restart your computer.
Solution 2 – if solution 1 fails
In Benign click Tools >> Options >> General >> and uncheck 'Launch Benign startup'
In Benign click File > Exit
Restart computer.
Note: This only works if you are an administrator. You cannot cause an administrative program to automatically start on a standard user's desktop. Benign needs to be run under administrator privileges
Launch the Task Scheduler
In Windows click Start Menu > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Task Scheduler(or may just say 'Create task')
From the Actions panel on the right, select Create Task.
Give a name of your choice in the "Name Section" I.e. Benign
Check ‘Run only when user is logged on' and 'Run with highest privileges'
Configure for 'Windows Vista'
Click on the Triggers tab
Click New
Click on the dropdown next to "Begin the task", select 'At log on'
Put a check next to 'specific user or group'
Click OK
Click the Actions tab
Click New
Click browse
Find the program you want to run I.e. look for C:\Program Files\FireTrust\Benign\b9.exe
Click ok
Click the Settings tab
Check ' Allow task to be run on demand'
Uncheck 'Run task as soon as possible after a scheduled start is missed'
Uncheck 'Stop the task if it runs longer than 3 days'
Click OK to save and close the task properties
Restart computer
What is the current version of Benign and when is the next release of Benign?
Answer: Current Benign version is 1.50 (1.5.0.2)
Can I use Benign with Exchange Server?
Answer: Yes, provided Exchange Server is configured to support POP3.
Can I use Yahoo with Benign?
Answer: Yes. To set up a POP account with Yahoo go to http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/mail/pop/.
Although be aware that Yahoo in certain locations require an annual fee to convert your mail account so that you have POP3 access.
Can I use CompuServe or Juno with Benign?
Answer: Unfortunately not, as CompuServe and Juno use their own software for message retrieval. Benign cannot alter your server settings.
How many accounts may I have?
Answer: You can have as many accounts as you want.
What is my POP setting?
Answer: POP is your incoming mail setting. To find out more you need to consult the documentation your Internet/email provider supplied you with when you signed up.
Can I import my existing mail accounts in to Benign?
Answer: Yes, you can. To do this, select Tools > Import mail accounts from the Benign menu to begin the Mail Account Import Wizard.
Note: You may receive a message requesting to close down any mail programs if they are open.
What does Summary tell me?
Answer: The summary gives the statistics on what Benign has done on your computer, for example, the summary gives an information breakdown for Messages, HTML and Web Bugs, how many attachments have been renamed, or how many non-standard HTML tags have been removed. This is just for your own information and no action is needed.
You can also choose to email yourself the summary. To do this, select Tools > Options from the Benign menu and in the General tab, use the drop down selection to specify how often you want to receive the email summary. Click OK.
What does the Message log tell me?
Answer: The message log gives information about received messages, for example the date processed, from whom, subject, date and changes.
How do I clear the Message log?
Answer: From the Benign menu, select Tools > Summary then select the Message log tab. Click Clear logs... and then OK.
How do I turn off the Message log?
Answer: From the Benign menu, select Tools > Options then the General tab. Deselect the Keep message logs for xx days checkbox and click OK.
How do I change the amount of days that Benign keeps the Message Logs?
Answer: From the Benign menu, select Tools > Options then the General tab. Enter the required number of days in the Keep message logs for xx days field. Click Apply, then OK.
Why does Benign rename attachments?
Answer: Benign renames attachments for safety reasons. Only the attachment is quarantined.
How do I change Benign to not start-up when I start my computer?
Answer: By default Benign will start up when you turn on your computer. We recommend you do not change this setting, but if you want to, then click Options. The General tab displays. Uncheck the "Launch Benign on startup" box.
I received an email and was expecting an .exe attachment but was none. What should I do?
Answer: Check your Message log for the reason that Benign may have blocked the attachment. To do this, select Tools > Summary from the Benign menu. Highlight the message and check the security profile applied. If it is Medium or High, then Benign has done its job and blocked the attachment.
There are two options to ensure that this does not happen again (unless you want it to):
1. Change the Account Security to setting to Low from the account default action, Rename.
To do this, select Tools > Options and the Accounts tab. Highlight the account and click Modify. Use the drop down selection to set the security profile to Low and click OK.
Note: Beware this change all file types from High to Medium or Low. You may not want to do this. If not, go to Step 2.
2. Change the .exe file types only.
Select Tools > Options and the Security profiles tab. Highlight bat;com;exe;pif;scr;shs and click Edit. Select the Allow radio button and click OK.
Note: Beware that file types bat;com;pif;scr;shs are also be changed to Allow.
You now have to request the sender of the attachment to resend the message.
How to uninstall Benign
Answer: Uninstalling Benign in XP and Vista
How to uninstall Benign in XP
1. Exit Benign by either
clicking the Windows Start button > All Programs > Firetrust Benign > Firetrust Benign then click File > Exit
or
right clicking on the b9 icon then left click on Exit (the b9 icon is sitting in your system tray which is normally the bottom right hand side of your screen near the time.
2. Uninstall Benign
Click the Windows Start button > All Programs > Firetrust Benign > Uninstall Firetrust Benign
You will be asked if you want to remove .b9 from your mail programs incoming mail (POP3) server name. Reply yes if you are removing Benign from your computer. This will automatically remove .b9 from your mail program. If this message does not come up then you may need to manually remove the .b9 setting from your mail program.
If you have Outlook Express (other mail programs are similar) then
In Outlook Express click Tools >> Accounts >> select Mail at the top >> Properties >> select Servers at the top >> remove .b9 at the end of your incoming mail (POP3) server address
How to uninstall Benign in Vista
1. Exit Benign by either
clicking the Windows Start button > All Programs > Firetrust Benign > Firetrust Benign then click File > Exit
or
right clicking on the b9 icon then left click on Exit (the b9 icon is sitting in your system tray which is normally the bottom right hand side of your screen near the time.
2. Uninstall Benign
Click the Windows Start button > All Programs > Firetrust Benign > Uninstall Firetrust Benign
You will be asked if you want to remove .b9 from your mail programs incoming mail (POP3) server name. Reply yes if you are removing Benign from your computer. As Benign is not Vista or Windows 7 ready this will not automatically remove .b9 from your mail program(s). You will have to manually remove .b9 from your mail program(s). If you do not remove .b9 from your mail program(s) you will get an error when clicking receive in your mail program(s).
I.e. with Benign installed your incoming mail (POP3) server name will look something like
pop3.yourisp.com.b9
after you uninstall Benign you will have to alter the incoming mail (POP3) server name to look something like
pop3.yourisp.com
In Windows Mail click Tools > Accounts > select your mail account > Properties > select Servers at the top > remove the suffix .b9 from the end of your POP3 server address > click OK
In Windows Live Mail click Tools > Accounts > select your mail account > Properties > select Servers at the top > remove the suffix .b9 from the end of your POP3 server address > click OK
In Outlook 2003 click Tools > E-mail Accounts > select View or Change existing e-mail accounts > click Next > Change > remove the suffix .b9 from the end of your Incoming mail server (POP3) name > click Next > Finish
In Outlook 2007 click Tools > Account Settings > click Change or double click on the (account) Name > remove the suffix .b9 from the end of your Incoming mail server (POP3) name > click Next > Finish
In Mozilla Thunderbird click Tools > Account Settings > select Server Settings > remove the suffix .b9 from the end of your Server name > click OK
Trouble Shooting Benign uninstall on XP and Vista
If you get the message that Benign is still running then try
clicking the Windows Start button > All Programs > Firetrust Benign > Firetrust Benign then click File > Exit
or
right clicking on the b9 icon then left click on Exit (the b9 icon is sitting in your system tray which is normally the bottom right hand side of your screen near the time.
or
Click, Ctrl, Alt, Delete on your keyboard, when the Windows Task Manager opens click the "Processes" tab,
If "B9.exe" is in the list there, click on it and click, "End Process"
How do I change my Benign security profile?
Answer: In Benign, click Tools > Options > Accounts > then click on the Server name and click Modify, pick Security Profile Low, Medium or High and click OK > Apply.
Why would I want to create email and domain overrides?
Answer: Let me tell you why:
Suppose you are on a friend's joke email list and you were on a slow dial up connection. You know the story, you wait and wait for his emails to download and meanwhile the phone line is tied up. You do not want to hurt your friend's feelings and ask to be removed from his joke emailing list, so what do you do? You create a new profile to block his executable file attachments (which also can harbor viruses).
You will then be only blocking the file attachments that come from your friend's email address and not all the other email addresses in your address book.
Here is the step by step example and instructions to block your friend's annoying executable attachments:
Step 1. In Benign click Tools > Options > Security profiles > Add > New profile name (enter a name you will know, ie. your friends name) > OK > Apply > OK.
Step 2. In Benign click Tools > Options > Security profiles (pick new profile created in Step 1) then click File extension "bat;com;exe;pif;scr;shs" > Edit > Block > OK > Apply > OK.
Step 3. In Benign click Tools > Options > Domain and address overrides > Add >(enter your friends email address, ie. friend@isp.com > Security Profile (pick the security profile you created in Step 1) > OK > Apply > OK.
Now when friend@isp.com sends you any executable file, ie. wasteofspace.exe, Benign will block the file, but not the email. The email from friend@isp.com will appear in your email program, minus the annoying attachment, called wasteofspace.exe. Your friend will be none the wiser, as he thinks you got the attachment.
If your friend from friend@isp.com asks if you enjoyed the file, wasteofspace.exe, reply "Thanks, it was really good, a real laugh". Test this by checking the Message Log. In Benign click Tools > Summary > Message Log. Click the email from friend@isp.com and the summary will show "Attachments blocked: 1."
Will Benign alter my email programs settings?
Answer: The only alteration you will get is .b9 is added to the end of your incoming mail POP3 server name within your mail program. Benign automatically adds this suffix .b9 on installation. No action is required on your part.
Does Benign work on accounts with SSL?
Answer: Benign can't work with SSL since SSL is designed to prevent "man in the middle" attacks, which is what Benign does. Benign has been designed to do a few things in relation to this.
When importing an account that is set to use SSL, Benign warns you that you can import this account but if you do, the SSL functionality is disabled. This means you can either continue the import, or cancel it.
SSL can be used/started in two ways, by using another connection to the server on Port 995, or by the client issuing an SSL/STARTTLS command during normal communication with the mail server on Port 110. Benign does not pass on the STARTTLS command.
This all means that Benign won't work on an account that requires SSL, but it does work on an account that currently uses SSL, but doesn't need to.
Why does Benign need access to the Windows HOSTS file?
Answer: Benign needs to alter the Windows HOSTS file so that the system is able to resolve the "mail server.name.b9" into a specific IP address for "localhost" so Benign can determine which account to scan the mail from.
Without an appropriate entry in the HOSTS file, the computer cannot resolve the "mail server.name.b9" entry and mail can not be retrieved by the mail client.
Are you getting?: Cannot create file C:\...HOSTS
My port scanner reports Port 110 open. Is this safe?
Answer: Benign expects incoming connections on Port 110, so any firewall software that you are running must be configured to allow incoming connections on that port from the local machine. Connections originating from the intranet/untrusted zone to Port 110 can be blocked without affecting Benign.
Without a firewall, Benign itself only accepts incoming connections from programs on your machine that are configured to use it and blocks any other connections originating from outside your machine. Benign blocks all attempts to connect to your machine from outside, so there is no security risk.
Any incoming connections from outside will be greeted with the following message from Benign:
-ERR Connections are allowed only from the local host (xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is not a local address).
(Where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is the non-authorized IP address being used).
A firewall operating in "Stealth Mode" is required to hide the port completely so that it does not provide any indication that your IP address is valid.
What is a web bug?
Answer: Basically a web bug is a graphic on a web page or in an email message that is designed to monitor who is reading the web page or email message. Benign protects you from web bugs within your email. It does not protect you from web bugs when you view web pages via your browser.
Do I need to remove or disable my current anti-virus program?
Answer: No, your anti-virus program is your first level of defense, so leave the program enabled and running.
How do I add zip file protection?
Answer: Compression application created files are not included in the Benign default "Security Profiles", ie. filename.zip. Zip files can contain executable programs that can harbor viruses.
I do suggest adding .zip files to Benign. Firetrust will release an updated Benign that will have .zip file type protection added by default some time in the near future.
You can add these file extensions manually if you wish:
In Benign click Tools > Options > Security Profiles (do for each profile) > Add (the Add button beneath the File Extensions box) and enter File extensions zip Mime type application/x-compressed.
How do I block MSGTAG read receipts?
Answer: The ‘Block images from external servers’' option will block them. This option is the 'catch all' for external images, and is required to block MSGTAG tags.
In Benign click Tools > Options > Security profiles > Web Bugs and check 'Block Images from external servers' > Apply
Please do this for every Benign Security Profile I.e. Low, Medium and High
How do I check Benign is processing my email?
Answer: From the Benign menu, select Tools > Summary and the Message log tab. If you have set up Benign correctly, then every email processed by Benign is in this log.
If the Message log is empty, then Benign is not set up correctly and has not processed any of your mail.
Check the following to ensure Benign is installed properly:
1. From the Benign menu, select Tools > Options then the Accounts tab. Ensure that all of your different POP3 server settings are listed.
2. Check the Account Properties in your email program, make sure .b9 has been added to the end of the POP3 server setting.
3. In your firewall, make sure it allows Benign access to the Internet. Also, in order to download messages, Benign has to be running, otherwise you will get error messages due to the changed POP3 server settings in your email program.
Error - EldreadLnMxLineLengthExceeded
Answer: The error message is returned by a third party library that we use called Indy, that handles Benign's connections to the POP server.
This error only occurs with certain incorrectly formatted email (which is most likely to be spam) on some servers that do not automatically handle and correct the problem themselves.
The particular emails have been sent via some process (like a badly written bulk-mailer) that does not conform to RFC standards of line termination and length. Instead of the correct line terminators of a "CR" followed by a "LF" character, these emails had only the "CR" - which does not constitute a legitimate line break. Because the line terminators are incorrect, the mail server returns the entire email in one line. The maximum line length allowed by Internet Standard Specifications is approximately 1000 characters. Indy and therefore Benign, can handle line lengths of up to 16 000 characters, which is well in excess for correctly formatted email.
The example we found that caused this error had a line length of over 30 000 characters. It was a spam email and it is unlikely that any legitimate email would have been sent in a way that would cause such formatting.
Since we have become aware of the problem, the next version of Benign will split any line over a certain length to prevent this error. It may cause some minor change in the display of the email, but since it is the email message that is breaking standards, there is no "standard" way to deal with it. It is unlikely that anyone will notice though, since only unsolicited email is prone to this sort of problem.
If you find that the mail does not download to your mail program, then download the mail without Benign.
To do this you will have to manually remove .b9 from your mail programs incoming (POP3) server name, then download the mail and then re-add .b9 to the end of your mail programs incoming (POP3) server name.
Error - RichEdit line insertion
Answer: The RichEdit line insertion error is to do with the internal logging done by Benign becoming overloaded. We are able to add measures to prevent this from happening in the next version of Benign, when that is released.
In the meantime, one thing that should reduce the occurrence of this problem is to decrease the frequency of automatic mail checks in your mail program. This could possibly stop the logging function from overloading and at the very least will mean that the error will occur less often.
Error - getValueByName (Users): Key Has No Subvalues
Answer: This error does not affect Benign in any way, it is just a little annoying. Apologies.
This error message is removed in our next version of Benign.
Why doesn't the Mail Accounts Import Wizard recognize my mail program?
Answer: Why doesn't the Mail Accounts Import Wizard recognize my mail program?
Sometimes Benign may fail to detect your mail program. This failure can be for a variety of reasons, but the good news is that you can manually configure your mail program and Benign. Benign runs with any POP3 mail program. We have described how to configure the following mail programs and Benign. If your mail program is not listed, then contact us and we will add it to the FAQ.
Note: An uninstall of Benign does not reverse these settings, so should you ever remove the program, you need to change this option back in your mail program to get your messages to download, i.e. remove the .b9 from the end of your mail program incoming mail (POP3) server name.
Becky Mail 2.05.10 manual account setup
In Becky Internet Mail 2.05.10 click Tools > Mailbox Setup > Account > POP3(Mail) Server > add a .b9 to the end of your POP3 server address > also note down this address before the change > click OK > go to Benign > Tools >Options > Accounts > click Add > enter your POP3 mail address noted earlier (without the .b9) and enter what security setting you desire for this account.
Calypso mail manual account setup
In Calypso click Mailbox > Accounts > Properties > Mail Server > add a .b9 to the end of your POP3 server address > also note down this address before the change > click OK > go to Benign > Tools > Options > Accounts > click Add > enter your POP3 mail address noted earlier (without the .b9) and enter what security setting you desire for this account.
Courier mail manual account setup
In Courier click Mailbox > Accounts > Properties > Mail Server > add a .b9 to the end of your POP3 server address > also note down this address before the change > click OK > go to Benign > Tools > Options > Accounts > click Add > enter your POP3 mail address noted earlier (without the .b9) and enter what security setting you desire for this account.
Earthlink TotalAccess Mailbox
In Earthlink TotalAccess Mailbox click Tools > Settings > Accounts > Edit > add a .b9 to the end of your incoming mail POP3 server address > also note down this address before the change > click OK > go to Benign > Tools > Options > Accounts > click Add > enter your POP3 mail address noted earlier (without the .b9) and enter what security setting you desire for this account.
Everdesk
In Everdesk click Settings > Mail Accounts > select Mail Account then click Settings at the side > Incoming mail > add a .b9 to the end of the Incoming Server > also note down this address before the change > click OK > go to Benign® > Tools > Options > Accounts > click Add > enter your POP3 mail address noted earlier (without the .b9) and enter what security setting you desire for this account
Eudora manual account setup
In Eudora click Tools > Options > Getting Started > Mail Server(Incoming) > add a .b9 to the end of your POP3 server address > also note down this address before the change > click OK > go to Benign > Tools > Options > Accounts > click Add > enter your POP3 mail address noted earlier (without the .b9) and enter what security setting you desire for this account. If you need to change the Mail Server(Incoming) port due to conflicts then refer to Eudora support.
Forte Agent manual account setup
In Forte Agent click Options > Inbound Mail > add a .b9 to the end of your POP3 server address > also note down this address before the change > click OK > go to Benign > Tools > Options > Accounts > click Add > enter your POP3 mail address noted earlier (without the .b9) and enter what security setting you desire for this account.
Foxmail 5.0 manual account setup.
In Foxmail 5.0 click Accounts > Properties > Mail Server > add a .b9 to the end of your POP3 server > also note down this address before the change > click OK > go to Benign > Tools > Options > Accounts > click Add > enter your POP3 mail address noted earlier (without the .b9) and enter what security setting you desire for this account.
Express Plus v1.0.5.2 manual account setup.
In Express Plus click > Accounts > Manage accounts > Properties > Incoming Mail (POP3) > add a .b9 to the end of your POP3 server address > also note down this address before the change > click OK > go to Benign > Tools > Options > Accounts > click Add > enter your POP3 mail address noted earlier (without the .b9) and enter what security setting you desire for this account.
IncrediMail manual account setup
In IncrediMail click Tools > Accounts > Properties > select Servers at the top > add a .b9 to the end of your Incoming mail server > also note down this address before the change > click OK > go to Benign > Tools > Options > Accounts > click Add > enter your POP3 mail address noted earlier (without the .b9) and enter what security setting you desire for this account.
Mozilla Thunderbird manual account setup
In Mozilla Thunderbird click Tools > Account Settings > select Server Settings > add a .b9 to the end of your Server name > also note down this address before the change > click OK > go to Benign > Tools > Options > Accounts > click Add > enter your POP3 mail address noted earlier (without the .b9) and enter what security setting you desire for this account.
Netscape Mail 4.x manual account setup
In Netscape click Edit > Preferences > on the left select Mail & Newsgroups > Mail Servers>> for each account click Edit and add a .b9 to the end of your POP3 server address > also note down this address before the change > click OK > go to Benign > Tools > Options > Accounts > click Add > enter your POP3 mail address noted earlier (without the .b9) and enter what security setting you desire for this account.
Netscape Mail 7.0 manual account setup
In Netscape click Edit > Mail & Newsgroup Account Settings > select Server Settings on the left > for each account add a .b9 to the end of your POP3 server address > also note down this address before the change > click OK > go to Benign® > Tools > Options > Accounts > click Add > enter your POP3 mail address noted earlier (without the .b9) and enter what security setting you desire for this account.
No known program manual account set up
In your email program go to the account setup > add a .b9 to the end of your POP3 server address > also note down this address before the change > click OK > go to Benign > Tools > Options > Accounts > click Add > enter your POP3 mail address noted earlier (without the .b9) and enter what security setting you desire for this account.
Opera manual account set up
In Opera click Mail >> Manage Accounts > highlight you account and click Edit > select Servers at the top > add a .b9 to the end of your POP3 server address > also note down this address before the change > click OK > go to Benign > Tools > Options > Accounts > click Add > enter your POP3 mail address noted earlier (without the .b9) and enter what security setting you desire for this account.
Outlook 2000 manual account set up
In Outlook 2000 click Tools > Accounts > select Mail at the top > Properties > select Servers at the top > add a .b9 to the end of your POP3 server address > also note down this address before the change > click OK > go to Benign > Tools > Options > Accounts > click Add > enter your POP3 mail address noted earlier (without the .b9) and enter what security setting you desire for this account.
Outlook 2003 manual account set up
In Outlook 2003 click Tools > Email Accounts > select View or Change existing email accounts > click Next > Change > add a .b9 to the end of your incoming mail server (POP3)name > also note down this address before the change > click Next > Finish > go to Benign® > Tools > Options > Accounts > click Add > enter your POP3 mail address noted earlier (without the .b9) and enter what security setting you desire for this account.
Outlook 2007 manual account set up
In Outlook 2007 click Tools > Account Settings > click Change or double click on the (account) Name > add a .b9 to the end of your Incoming mail server (POP3) name > also note down this address before the change > Click More Settings... > Click Advanced and ensure Incoming server (POP3) is 110 and 'This server requires an encrypted connection (SSL)' is not checked (as Benign does not support SSL) > click OK > click Next > Finish > go to Benign® > Tools > Options > Accounts > click Add > enter your POP3 mail address noted earlier (without the .b9) and enter what security setting you desire for this account.
Outlook 98 manual account set up
In Outlook click Tools > Accounts > select Mail at the top > Properties > select Servers at the top > add a .b9 to the end of your POP3 server address > also note down this address before the change > click OK > go to Benign > Tools > Options > Accounts > click Add > enter your POP3 mail address noted earlier (without the .b9) and enter what security setting you desire for this account.
Outlook Express manual account set up
In Outlook Express click Tools > Accounts > select Mail at the top > Properties > select Servers at the top > add a .b9 to the end of your POP3 server address > also note down this address before the change > click OK > go to Benign > Tools > Options > Accounts > click Add > enter your POP3 mail address noted earlier (without the .b9) and enter what security setting you desire for this account.
Outlook XP manual account set up
In Outlook click Tools > Email Accounts > select View or Change existing email account > click Next > Change > add a .b9 to the end of your POP3 server address > also note down this address before the change > click OK > go to Benign > Tools > Options > Accounts > click Add > enter your POP3 mail address noted earlier (without the .b9) and enter what security setting you desire for this account.
Pegasus 4.11 manual account setup
In Pegasus click File > Network Configuration > Receiving (POP3) > Edit > add .b9 to the end of your Server host name (POP3) also note down this address before the change > click OK > go to Benign > Tools > Options > Accounts > click Add > enter your POP3 mail address noted earlier (without the .b9) and enter what security setting you desire for this account.
PocoMail manual account set up
In PocoMail click Tools > Accounts Setup > under the General tab at the top > add a .b9 to the end of your POP3 server address > also note down this address before the change > click OK > go to Benign > Tools > Options > Accounts > click Add > enter your POP3 mail address noted earlier (without the .b9) and enter what security setting you desire for this account.
The Bat! manual account setup
If in The Bat! you click Accounts > Properties > select Transport on the left > add a .b9 to the end of your POP3 server address > also note down this address before the change > click OK > go to Benign > Tools > Options > Accounts > click Add > enter your POP3 mail address noted earlier (without the .b9) and enter what security setting you desire for this account.
Turnpike manual account setup
In Turnpike, click Configure > Email Transfer > Edit > add a .b9 to the end of your POP3 server address > also note down this address before the change > click OK > go to Benign > Tools > Options > Accounts > click Add > enter your POP3 mail address noted earlier (without the .b9) and enter what security setting you desire for this account.
Windows Mail (Vista) account setup
In Windows Mail click Tools > Accounts > select your mail account > Properties > select Servers at the top > add a .b9 to the end of your POP3 server address > also note down this address before the change > click OK > right click on the shortcut that you use to start Benign, and click, "Run as Administrator" and click, > Tools > Options > Accounts > click Add > enter your POP3 mail address noted earlier (without the .b9) and enter what security setting you desire for this account.
Cannot create HOSTS file?
Answer: Benign needs to alter the Windows HOSTS file so that the system is able to resolve the "mail.server.name.b9" into a specific IP address for "localhost" so Benign can determine which account to scan the mail from.
Without an appropriate entry in the HOSTS file, the computer would not be able to resolve the "mail.server.name.b9" entry and mail would not be retrieved by the mail client.
Cannot create file C:\Windows\Hosts in Win95/98/ME
The hosts file needs "Read only" removed from the file attributes.
To do this in Windows select Start > Search and look for the file called HOSTS. Right click on the file, select Properties and deselect Read only.
Cannot create file C:\winnt\system32\drivers\etc\HOSTS in NT/2000/XPPro
The User needs to have Administrator privileges to alter this file.
Make sure you install Benign as Administrator User. Installing Benign as Administrator user will automatically give the Benign access to the HOSTS file. If you have installed Benign under Administrator User and you still get the error then try searching for the HOSTS file. Right click on the file and ensure that Read only is not selected.
Cannot create file C:\winnt\system32\drivers\etc\HOSTS in XP Home Edition
Make sure you installed Benign as Computer Administrator.
Computer Administrator is the default setting when creating a user account on Windows XP Home Edition. Installing Benign as a computer Administrator user will automatically give Benign access to the HOSTS file. If you have installed Benign under the default Computer Administrator User and you still get the error then try searching for the HOSTS file. Right click on the file and ensure that Read only is not selected
I just received a virus. Why didn't Benign catch it?
Answer: From the Benign menu, select Tools > Summary and the Message log tab. If you have set up Benign correctly, then every email processed by Benign is in this log.
If the Message log is empty, then Benign is not set up correctly and has not processed any of your mail - the reason the virus got through.
Check the following to ensure Benign is installed properly:
1. From the Benign menu, select Tools > Options then the Accounts tab. Ensure that all of your different POP3 server settings are listed.
2. Check the Account Properties in your email program, make sure .b9 has been added to the end of the POP3 server setting.
3. In your firewall, make sure it allows Benign access to the Internet. Also, in order to download messages, Benign has to be running, otherwise you will get error messages due to the changed POP3 server settings in your email program.
Why am I getting blank email in Outlook Express?
Answer: From the Benign menu, select Tools > Options then the Security profiles tab. Ensure the filenames are set to Allow rather than Rename.
I have just installed Outpost Firewall 2.5 and cannot retrieve my email.
Answer: In Outpost 2.5 click Options > System > LAN settings > select IP number (with wildcard) > add 127.98.9.* as a trusted IP.
How do I enter my Registration key?
Answer: Go to the email that contains the Registration key that was sent to you, (7 or so lines of letters,numbers and characters), copy the key, then in Benign, select Help > About B9... and click Enter registration key. Paste the key into the text area, then click OK to register.
Please note that you have to use copy and paste to get the key into Benign.
Note - Do not select Click here to register Benign. This link is for people who have not paid and not issued a Registration key.
To check that you have registered Benign correctly, select Help > About B9... where the message This product is licensed to : Your name displays.
I have lost my Registration code. How do I get back my registered version?
Answer: Please email Benign Support. If your email address has changed, please include the original email address you used to pay and register Benign.
