diff --git a/bin/poster.pl b/bin/poster.pl
index f409275..53e29b3 100755
--- a/bin/poster.pl
+++ b/bin/poster.pl
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ sub connect_nntp($)
   # authinfo does not return a value
   $nntp->authinfo($cfg_nntp_user, $cfg_nntp_pass);
 
+  $nntp->starttls if $nntp->can_ssl();
   return $nntp;
 }