Authentication of E-mail Messages: A New Hope Against Junk Spam

Internet users are fed up with the increasing amount of junk e-mail in their inboxes, with some studies suggesting that up to 80% of e-mail traffic is spam. To combat this issue, a group of six of the world's largest e-mail providers, including America Online, EarthLink, Microsoft, Yahoo, Comcast, and British Telecom, have proposed new ways to authenticate e-mail messages, making it harder for spammers to hide their identities and origins. These authentication methods, which will be tested this year, aim to associate a unique identity with each e-mail message, allowing e-mail providers to better sort incoming messages and prevent false "from" information from being used to deceive recipients.

Key Takeaways:

• The technology that controls e-mail transmission allows spammers to lie about who they are, where they are from, and what they are sending, making it difficult to combat junk email.
• Six of the world's largest e-mail providers, including America Online, EarthLink, Microsoft, Yahoo, Comcast, and British Telecom, have proposed new ways to authenticate e-mail messages to prevent spammers from hiding their identities.
• The proposals and recommendations released by the Anti-Spam Technical Alliance suggest that cutting off Internet users whose computers are sending large amounts of spam, and limiting the amount of e-mails sent every day, could help reduce the amount of spam online.
• The major players agree that authentication is necessary, but differ on how to implement it, with Microsoft favoring a system that relies on unique markers in e-mail messages and Yahoo recommending a digital "signature" on each outgoing message.
• The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) will publish initial recommendations on e-mail authentication in August, and the Federal Trade Commission plans to address the issue this fall.
• Authentication of e-mail messages would force spammers to disclose where they are sending their messages from, allowing e-mail providers to better sort incoming messages and prevent false "from" information from being used to deceive recipients.
• The digital "keys" system recommended by Yahoo would require domain name owners to keep a public record of what IP numbers they use to send e-mail, allowing recipients' e-mail servers to check those records to verify the authenticity of the message.
• Advocates of the digital "signature" approach agree that the technology is more complex, but provides a more reliable way to identify senders and prevent spammers from using fake "from" lines and IP numbers.

Statistics:

• Up to 80% of e-mail traffic is spam (According to some studies, though the specific study is not cited in the text).
• Half of the spam received by Hotmail is spoofed (According to Microsoft Corp. spokesman Sean Sundwall).
• The Anti-Spam Technical Alliance is comprised of six of the world's largest e-mail providers (America Online, EarthLink, Microsoft, Yahoo, Comcast, and British Telecom).
• The IETF will publish initial recommendations on e-mail authentication in August.
• The Federal Trade Commission plans to address the issue of e-mail authentication this fall.

Sources:

• The Anti-Spam Technical Alliance.
• Federal Trade Commission.
• America Online.
• EarthLink.
• Microsoft Corp.
• Yahoo.
• British Telecom.
• Comcast.
• Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).