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4 Messages
Secure Mail Key In Thunderbird
According to my email from ATT, I need to get a secure mail key and put it into my mail client, Thunderbird. I see nowhere in Thunderbird where such a secure mail key would go. There is one place where it asks for the Type of Authintication. The option that is currently selected is "Normal Password". There are a couple of other choices one of which is "Encrypted Password" and a couple of other types. There is nowhere where an actual password is entered. What do I need to do with the Secure Mail Key once I get it.
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_xyzzy_
Expert
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15K Messages
5 years ago
Where are you looking? You asked how to change your password to the secure mail key in Thunderbird. So I gave you instructions on how to do that in Thunderbird. You implied that you already knew how to create the secure mail key through myAT&T.
If you have multiple accounts (sub-accounts) then you need to log into myAT&T using each account's email address and password to create it's own secure mail key. You don't create the passwords for sub-accounts directly from the primary account.
Secure mail keys are not account passwords (which is the main point of having them) and are only used by email client apps like Thunderbird. Aside from creating them through myAT&T they have nothing to do with your webmail passwords which is why you cannot create or change them like passwords (although you can also change your account password from myAT&T as well). And while att is generating the 16-character secure mail key for you, like account passwords and security questions, they are stored as encrypted data. That why, like account passwords and security questions, you can only replace and never recover.
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_xyzzy_
Expert
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15K Messages
5 years ago
Just replace the current passwords with the secure mail key. Nothing else needs to be changed. It's still normal password and ssl.
The easiest way to do this is get into the preferences -> security -> passwords -> Saved Logins and delete the existing password entries for that account. Then send an email to yourself. You should get prompts for passwords when you send and when you receive. In each case enter the secure mail key into the dialog and click the checkbox to use the password manager to save the passwords (secure mail key) back into the Saved Logins table.
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wilmayo
Tutor
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4 Messages
5 years ago
Sorry. I have tried following the path you suggested and cannot find it. Where I'm I supposed to start from? ATT.com, MyATT.net, or ATT-Yahoo mail?
If I log into myATT, I cannot find any information about my email login names and passwords for att-yahoo mail. I have 3 different ones under the ATT account.
If this is just a matter of changing passwords, why can't I just go to my email logins and change it in the normal way. Why is ATT dictation my passwords? Those are supposed to be mine and private.
Sorry. I'm just frustrated and I've spent far too much time on this.
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wilmayo
Tutor
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4 Messages
5 years ago
You can tell how confused and frustrated I was. I have found the preferences in Thunderbird where I can change passwords. Thanks.
Since my original question, I have found that Thunderbird does support oauth 2. Am I correct that, in that case, nothing has to be done in the way of entering secure keys?
Also, am I correct that if I log into yahoo mail directly via my browser (Firefox), no changes are required?
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_xyzzy_
Expert
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15K Messages
5 years ago
Later TB's support OAuth2 with yahoo. Early versions apparently didn't. I am not exactly sure in what version of TB it started working (somewhere between v60 and v68 I think). Using OAuth2 is mutually exclusive of using a secure mail key. Use one or the other but not both.
Webmail remains unchanged. OAuth2 and secure mail keys are only for email client apps.
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junior-tinyd
Teacher
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17 Messages
3 years ago
Here's what worked for me. I have an sbc global account (ATT), which stopped working with Thunderbird (password never accepted). So, I created the "secure key" through my ATT account interface, copied the "secure key", and then used that as my new password in my Thunderbird settings for the sbc global account. The only glitch seems to be that when I send an email (outbound) from Thunderbird, it again asks for the secure key. This only happens once (the initial outbound email) while using Thunderbird. However, if I quit Thunderbird and relaunch, then send another outbound email, I am once again asked for the password (secure key). Not ideal, but perhaps there will be a workaround for this issue. Hope this helps!
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