Five Reasons to Upgrade to LISTSERV 16.5

By Susan Brown Faghani
Manager, Marketing and Sales Communication, L-Soft

If you're not running the newest LISTSERV version, you're missing out on must-have tools for compliance with the EU GDPR, which carries hefty fines for organizations of all sizes and types, and other regulations. It's an easy and important upgrade, and many L-Soft customers are already getting the benefits of LISTSERV 16.5. Here's why you need to upgrade.

1. GDPR Reporting Tool

With the EU GDPR in effect, all organizations must be able to provide on demand a report listing every instance of a customer's personal data held by that organization. L-Soft has developed a Microsoft PowerShell script for Windows, Linux and MacOS to assist you with this. This comprehensive reporting script scans all list archives, changelogs and subscriptions, producing a report that lists every instance of an individual's personal data on the LISTSERV server.

2. Smooth Upgrade Process

LISTSERV 16.5 was designed to be as easy to install as a level set. There are no incompatible changes, and no changes to the web interface other than to support new functionality. The only thing you'll need to do after installation is to publish your privacy policy, which is required by the GDPR.

3. New Privacy Policy Web Templates

Three new web templates are included with LISTSERV 16.5, allowing you to publish a per-list or site-wide privacy policy. The web interface automatically inserts the privacy policy on the list home page.

The three templates are:

PRIVACY-POLICY: The HTML text of your localized privacy policy
LAYOUT-GLOBAL-PRIVACY: The general layout of all privacy policy pages on the server
PRIVACY: The calling template

4. HSTS Maximum Age

The LISTSERV web interface can now enable HTTP Strict Transport Security, which directs browsers to only connect to the web interface using secure HTTPS connections. Unencrypted HTTP connections are automatically replaced with HTTPS connections at the browser level, preventing the transmission of unencrypted data to the server. HSTS is required by US BOD 18-01.

5. Anti-Spam Improvements

Several anti-spam improvements have been made to prevent bots from abusing the list subscribe forms with random email addresses and phishing URLs.

For more details and a full list of new features and enhancements, see:
http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/16.5/LISTSERV16.5_WhatsNew.pdf

For more details about how to upgrade to LISTSERV 16.5, visit:
http://www.lsoft.com/products/listserv_upgrade_hub.asp

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