internetweek.com
Microsoft Garners Support For Authentication Scheme
Thu Aug 12, 8:00 PM ET
Microsoft on Thursday hosted a meeting with more than 80 e-mail providers to spread the news about its Sender ID authentication scheme, and got the support from some heavyweights in the messaging security market, such as Tumbleweed, Cloudmark, and VeriSign.
The summit was requested by the E-mail Service Provider Coalition (ESPC), an industry group formed primarily of e-mail marketing firms who are trying to get ahead of the spam curve.
Sender ID is a proposed standard for sender authentication, which may slow down the spread of spam by validating sender addresses, preventing spammers from forging, or "spoofing" domains, a common tactic used to disguise message origins. The scheme is a combination of Microsoft's Caller ID for E-mail and the earlier Sender Policy Framework (SPF) authored by Meng Weng Wong. It's currently under consideration by the Internet Engineering Task Force.
Microsoft used the summit to tout support for Sender ID. "The biggest thing is the groundswell of support for the Sender ID framework," said Craig Spiezle, the director of industry and partner relations for Microsoft's Safety Technology and Strategy Team, in a statement.
Other firms joined in to announce support for Sender ID. Tumbleweed, for instance, which already supports both Caller ID and SPF, said Thursday it would add support for Sender ID to its E-mail Firewall when it revs to 6.1 in the near future.
Cloudmark, another vendor in the anti-spam market, announced Cloudmark Rating for Sender ID, a free system that provides real-time feedback on a sender domain's reputation. The free service can be downloaded from the company's Web site.
VeriSign promised Thursday to integrate Sender ID specs into its E-mail Security Service.
Sender authentication schemes could also put a stop to most phishing attacks, the e-mail generated scams that purport to be messages from legitimate companies, but are actually attempts to trick consumers into divulging confidential information such as bank and credit card account numbers.
Some analysts have said 95 percent of phishing e-mails come with faked sender domains.
"The industry is saying we need to move forward as quickly as possible," said Spiezle. "However, Microsoft and the industry recognize that there is no single perfect solution to the problem. This is not the end of the journey...[but] it's a significant step forward." |
