DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) is an e-mail authentication scheme that monitors e-mail senders’ reputations based on their digital signatures, using cryptography. Because it is domain based, all authenticated e-mail from a given domain has the same reputation, regardless of which IP address it is sent from. IP-based authentication schemes, such as SPF and Sender-ID, track e-mails based on the IP address. Here are answers to a few common questions about DKIM.
WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF DKIM OVER IP-BASED AUTHENTICATION? “DKIM holds marketers more accountable and allows them to be more portable,” explains Rick Buck, vice president of privacy and ISP relations for e-Dialog. If you use multiple IPs to send e-mail, you may have a different reputation for each account. What’s more, if you change or add IPs or e-mail service providers (ESPs), you have to “warm up” the new IPs, all but building a new reputation from scratch.
In addition, with DKIM “you have the ability to say to an ISP, ‘If you get mail that says my brand and it fails the DKIM check, you have my permission not to deliver that mail,’” Buck continues. This option is especially appealing to brands and industries, such as banking, that are particularly vulnerable to phishing and spoofing scams.
AS AN E-MAIL SENDER, WHAT DOES DKIM INVOLVE ON MY PART? If you use an ESP, it should take care of everything for you. If you handle your e-mail internally, you can use an online wizard to create the necessary digital “keys” for your domain. Then you need to create Domain Name System (DNS) text records with the key data, and upgrade your e-mail servers and software to support DKIM. For more information or assistance, visit www.DKIM.org.
DO I STILL NEED TO WORRY ABOUT IP-BASED AUTHENTICATION? Yes. For one thing, the e-mail receiving community has not yet adopted DKIM to the same degree as it has IP-based reputation management schemes, though many expect it to do so in the next 12 to 24 months. Even so, e-mail receivers will likely continue to use IP-based authentication as well, because it allows them to “better track hygiene and more accurate information about whether the mail is authentic,” Buck says. As the war against spam, phishing and spoofing continues, both senders and receivers will most likely want to take advantage of all the weapons at their disposal — including both IP-based and domain-based reputation management.
TIP:
USE DKIM AUTHENTICATION IN ADDITION TO, RATHER THAN INSTEAD OF, IP-BASED AUTHENTICATION.
Got an e-mail tip to share? Contact Sherry Chigerl at [email protected]
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