Leading free email providers like
Google, Microsoft and Yahoo are teaming up in an effort to prevent
“phishing” scams. As WWJ’s Rob Sanford reports, the unprecedented effort
was announced this week.
The companies have created a working group – DMARC.org – to promote a standard set of email technologies that they say will lead to more secure email.
According to its website, DMARC, which stands for “Domain-based
Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance,” standardizes how
email receivers perform email authentication. This means that senders
will experience consistent authentication results for their messages at
AOL, Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo! and any other email receiver implementing
DMARC.
With the rise of the social internet and e-commerce, spammers have a
tremendous financial incentive to compromise user accounts, enabling
theft of passwords, bank accounts, credit cards and more. Email is easy
to manipulate and criminals have found spoofing to be a proven way to
exploit user trust of well-known brands. Simply inserting the logo of a
well-known brand into an email gives it instant legitimacy with many
users.
CNET executive editor Molly Wood said phishing is threatening the legitimacy of email.
“I think it’s hard sometimes for these companies to work together.
They don’t always think it’s in their best interest to come together,
but I think it’s gotten to the point now where phishing scams are so
prevalent, that all of these companies are worried that their customers
are going to stop trusting their legitimate email,” said Wood.
The arrangement will not stop all spam or phishing but will stop what
they call a “significant chunk” of malicious messages sent.
DMARC helps email senders and receivers work together to better
secure emails, protecting users and brands from painfully costly abuse.
Find more information at DMARC.org.
Source: http://cbsloc.al/zhdnzo
