Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • Cybersecurity

    Speakers at E-Mail Summit Push Authentication, Reputation Tools

    By
    Paul F. Roberts
    -
    July 13, 2005
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Representatives from 37 e-mail technology companies used a one-day Summit in New York on Tuesday to exhort private sector administrators and online marketers to adopt e-mail sender authentication technology that helps block spam and phishing attacks.

      Around 500 people attended the E-Mail Authentication Implementation Summit and heard speeches by Internet luminary Esther Dyson, as well as executives from Microsoft Corp., Yahoo Inc. and the Direct Marketing Association.

      With problems like spam and phishing continuing to grow, companies need to implement some form of e-mail authentication technology soon, and begin preparing for the next wave in e-mail security: sender reputation services, according to e-mail experts.

      The implicit trust that existed when the Internet was created as a government-sponsored research project has evaporated, Dyson told Summit attendees in a keynote address.

      Malicious hackers and organized, online criminal groups are freely exploiting weaknesses in core Internet technology such as e-mail and the Domain Name Service, she said.

      With problems like spam and identity theft rampant, the organizations responsible for maintaining the Internet need to introduce “friction” back into Internet transactions that will distinguish friend from foe, she said.

      Attendees were treated to in-depth discussions of technologies such as the open source SPF (Sender Policy Framework, Microsofts SIDF (Sender ID Framework) and the new DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail).

      Executives from Bank of America and NewsCorp talked about their experiences implementing sender authentication technology and the benefits of authenticating outbound and inbound e-mail.

      /zimages/2/28571.gifClick here to read more about technology companies submitting a new e-mail authentication standard to the Internet Engineering Task Force for consideration.

      Within a year, most companies will have adopted some form of sender authentication technology for their e-mail, putting those companies that dont at a competitive disadvantage, said Erik Johnson, vice president of Email Infrastructure and Secure Messaging at Bank of America.

      Corey Null of Principal Financial Group said that his company is a target of phishing attacks and has already implemented SPF for its e-mail domains.

      He was at the Summit looking for indications of what further steps leading e-mail players would take to combat problems such as spam and phishing.

      Echoing the comments of others at the Summit, Null said that implementing SPF hasnt lessened the companys exposure to phishing attacks, but it has caused Principal to get a better handle on how it sends e-mail.

      “We sent a lot of mail through third parties and had no idea who was sending stuff in our name,” he said.

      Next Page: Setting up sub-domains.

      Setting Up Sub


      -domains”>

      Following the lead of companies such as Bank of America, administrators at Principal set up a series of sub-domains exclusively for sending out e-mail solicitations and consolidated management of those domains within the company, he said.

      Representatives from e-mail marketing companies and bulk e-mail senders were also in the crowd at the Summit.

      Ed Mnich, post master of Premiere Global Services, a bulk e-mail sender in Tinton Falls, N.J., said that he came to find out the latest information about how the messaging space is likely to evolve in coming months.

      For attendees like Mnich, e-mail experts said that an increasing focus on establishing online reputations for senders will be part of that evolution.

      In a round-table discussion of Emerging Accreditation and Reputation Solutions, Trevor Hughes, executive director of the Email Service Provider Coalition, said that some kind of reputation scoring has to be implemented, in addition to sender authentication, to protect the integrity of e-mail.

      “Sender authentication alone is not enough to protect the entire e-mail ecosystem,” Hughes said.

      Most leading e-mail providers already use some form of reputation scoring, including Microsoft, which said in June that it selected Habeas Inc. of San Jose, Calif., to provide e-mail accreditation services for The Microsoft Network and MSN Hotmail.

      Yahoo doesnt subscribe to reputation services like Habeas, but does use uses a variety of measures to score inbound e-mail, according to Miles Libbey, Anti-Spam Product Manager at Yahoo.

      /zimages/2/28571.gifRead more here about Yahoo and Cisco joining forces to promote e-mail authentication.

      But large e-mail inbox providers and senders need to be careful not to balkanize the e-mail world by forging exclusive relationships with different e-mail reputation providers, thereby requiring receivers to support multiple, competing reputation services, said Hughes.

      Ragy Thomas, Chief Technology Officer at Bigfoot Interactive, an e-mail forwarding company, agreed.

      The combination of multiple sender authentication schemes, when coupled with multiple e-mail reputation and accreditation services, could spell big trouble for e-mail senders like Bigfoot, he said.

      Reputation and sender authentication services need to be used, together, to verify e-mail messages, but more needs to be done to simplify those technologies, he said.

      “From the senders standpoint, we would like to see the [messaging] industry come together faster,” he said.

      /zimages/2/28571.gifCheck out eWEEK.coms for more on IM and other collaboration technologies.

      Paul F. Roberts
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Applications

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Applications

      Kyndryl’s Nicolas Sekkaki on Handling AI and...

      James Maguire - November 9, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nicolas Sekkaki, Group Practice Leader for Applications, Data and AI at Kyndryl, about how companies can boost both their AI and...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×