SAN FRANCISCO, April 2 /PRNewswire/ --

Setting the stage for a better understanding of sender authentication as
a technology to combat junk email, the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group
(MAAWG) has released a new white paper describing the practice as a
foundation for protecting legitimate Internet mail. "Trust in Email Begins
with Authentication" provides an overview of the technology by focusing on
the standardized mechanisms in general use today, Sender Policy Framework
(SPF), Sender IDentification Framework (SenderID), and DomainKeys Identified
Mail (DKIM).

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"Authentication mechanisms can help distinguish legitimate email from
spam. When used as part of a multi-faceted anti-abuse program, it is an
important tool to help protect business brands from forgery and phishing
attacks," said Dave Crocker, the MAAWG senior advisor who edited the paper
and principal at Brandenburg InternetWorking.

Email authentication mechanisms are used to validate the identity of an
email's sender, stifling would-be spammers who often forge the "From" field
in an email message to avoid detection. The executive summary of the MAAWG
paper provides an overview of how authentication can be used to protect email
and is intended for general business managers. The main body provides more
detail on SPF, SenderID, and DKIM mechanisms and is intended for technical
readers familiar with basic Internet mail service.

"Trust in Email Begins with Authentication" is available at no cost at
the MAAWG Web site, http://www.MAAWG.org.

About the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG)

The Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG) is where the messaging
industry comes together to work against spam, viruses, denial-of-service
attacks and other online exploitation. MAAWG (www.MAAWG.org) represents
almost one billion mailboxes from some of the largest network operators
worldwide. It is the only organization addressing messaging abuse
holistically by systematically engaging all aspects of the problem, including
technology, industry collaboration and public policy. MAAWG leverages the
depth and experience of its global membership to tackle abuse on existing
networks and new emerging services. Headquartered in San Francisco, Calif.,
MAAWG is an open forum driven by market needs and supported by major network
operators and messaging providers.

Media Contact: Linda Marcus, APR, +1-714-974-6356, lmarcus@astra.cc,
Astra Communications

MAAWG Board of Directors: AOL; AT&T (NYSE: T); Bell Canada; Charter
Communications (Nasdaq: CHTR); Cloudmark; Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA); Cox
Communications; EarthLink (Nasdaq: ELNK); France Telecom (NYSE and Euronext:
FTE); Goodmail Systems; Google Inc.; Openwave Systems (Nasdaq: OPWV); Return
Path, Inc. (Full-Member representative to the Board); Time Warner Cable;
Verizon Communications; and Yahoo! Inc.

MAAWG Full Members: 1&1 Internet AG; AG Interactive; Bizanga LTD; Eloqua
Corporation; Internet Initiative Japan, (IIJ Nasdaq: IIJI); IronPort Systems;
McAfee Inc.; MX Logic; Outblaze LTD; Return Path, Inc.; Sprint; Sun
Microsystems, Inc.; Symantec; and Telefonica SA.

A complete member list is available at http://www.maawg.org/about/roster.

Web site: http://www.maawg.org