Alert: DKIM adoption among online retailers is way past tipping point

The adoption rate of DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) for email domains among 111 of the largest online retailers now stands at 66%, up from 48% last May when I published DomainKeys adoption to follow Sender ID past tipping point. Since that time, the Internet Engineering Task Force has endorsed the standard and there has been lots of murmuring about ISPs potentially using authentication in their filtering calculations.

The adoption rate among major online retailers appears to be significantly ahead of the overall adoption rate. According to an announcement by the Authentication and Online Trust Alliance (AOTA) last week, the adoption of Sender ID and DKIM, the two leading standards of authentication, exceeds 50% among many consumer-facing companies. Email authentication is an automated process that verifies an email sender’s identity and is designed to eliminate spoofing and reduce spam, providing protections for both consumers and brand owners.

Craig Spiezle, chairman of AOTA and director of internet security and privacy at Microsoft, says, “AOTA is calling on all brand owners to implement domain-level authentication within the next six months.”

I would echo that call to action. There are still far too many retailers that have not stepped up to protect themselves and their customers from cybercriminals by adopting both DKIM and Sender ID—including Ann Taylor, Barnes & Noble, Bed Bath & Beyond, Brookstone, Blue Nile, Circuit City, Costco, Crutchfield, Dell, EB Games, Home Depot, HSN, J. Crew, Office Depot, PetSmart, Sam’s Club, Sephora, Sony, Victoria’s Secret, Walgreens and Wal-Mart, among others.

If you haven’t authenticated your email domains, talk to your email service provider or visit AOTA for resources to get you started.