Return Path, the email certification and reputation monitoring company, has joined forces with Google, AOL, Yahoo! and Microsoft to found the DMARC.org (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance) group, which aims to help safeguard consumers, brands and ISPs from ‘phishing’.
This technical working group is committed to the development of internet standards that will reduce the threat of deceptive emails known as ‘phishing’. The group has outlined a roadmap for email authentication and has published a draft specification that resolves the issues associated with widespread adoption of email authentication technologies.
Leading internet service providers such as Google, Yahoo!, AOL and Microsoft are also founding members of DMARC, led by Brett McDowell, Senior Manager of Customer Security Initiatives at PayPal – one of the world’s most highly-imitated brands.
Return Path’s existing anti-phishing solution ‘Domain Assurance’ supports the DMARC specifications, enabling companies to quickly and easily implement DMARC.
“Google has worked with Return Path for more than a year now to provide their clients (with) the tools needed to better protect Gmail users from phishing and other malicious email,” said Adam Dawes, Product Manager, Google. “Return Path’s extensive experience positions it well to improve mail senders’ authentication practices and help clean up the email channel. Most importantly, Return Path’s Domain Assurance product is already set up to support DMARC, and senders can start receiving data from Google and visualizing it with Return Path immediately.”
Recent Return Path data indicates that email senders are still struggling with email authentication, leaving brands open to phishing attacks. The Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) has reported that more than 300 brands are hijacked by phishers every month, eroding trust in email across many sectors including financial services, payment services, gaming, retail, auctions and social networks.
“Email has changed the way the world communicates. But many of the attributes that have made it great – it’s openness, it’s interoperability – have also made it vulnerable to malicious activity,” says Matt Blumberg, CEO, Return Path. “The beauty of DMARC is that it attempts to address the security threats to the email ecosystem without impacting its utility as a communication channel. Return Path is proud to support the DMARC standard and we encourage companies to implement it as quickly as they can. Fast, widespread adoption of DMARC will make a significant dent in scammers’ ability to perpetuate crime through email.”
