Valimail applauds accelerating support for next-generation email standards by leading enterprise mail providers, including Microsoft and Google

ARC, BIMI, and DMARC 2.0 standards are shaping a more secure, trustworthy foundation for email

SAN FRANCISCO, November 5, 2019 — Valimail, the leading provider of identity-based anti-phishing solutions and co-author of the Authenticated Received Chain (ARC) protocol, salutes the growing number of core infrastructure companies supporting it and other next-generation standards creating the future of email. Among those supporters are Microsoft, which just announced support for ARC within Office 365.

ARC solves a significant problem that enterprise mail systems frequently face: Mailing lists and secure email gateways (SEGs) frequently modify messages’ contents, causing initially legitimate mail to appear as suspicious when received. ARC allows these systems to seamlessly forward email messages, without causing those messages to be treated as if they were spoofed.

“The industry’s growing support for ARC will help expand the trustworthiness and reliability of enterprise email,” said Seth Blank, directory of industry initiatives for Valimail. “ARC improves the entire email ecosystem, by allowing legitimate mail to flow through mailing lists and SEGs without issue.”

Valimail has supported the ARC protocol for years, through efforts Blank has led: First through development of an open source test suite for implementations, then writing and supporting multiple open source libraries, and finally by working to drive the protocol’s development and adoption through industry working groups. In July 2019, ARC was published by the IETF as RFC 8617, for which Blank is a co-author.

Contributing actively to advancing standards has been a core value of Valimail since its founding in 2015. Blank is also chairman of the AuthIndicators Working Group, which is developing the Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) standard. BIMI provides a way for brands to control the logos that appear in end-user inboxes alongside messages that have been authenticated with Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC). Google has stated that it will begin a pilot of BIMI in Gmail in 2020.

Valimail supports BIMI with Valimail Amplify, which is the only solution to offer simultaneous and seamless support for Microsoft Business Profile alongside BIMI.

Blank is secretary of the IETF DMARC working group developing the next generation of DMARC. DMARC is now supported by about 80% of all email inbox providers, including Microsoft Office 365.

Valimail also plays key roles in industry groups such as M3AAWG, the Online Trust Alliance, and Global Cyber Alliance, helping to define and evangelize best practices that make email more secure and trustworthy for all.

“It is encouraging to see email security standards evolve to combat the epidemic in phishing and the corresponding loss of trust in our primary communication platform, email,” said Alexander García-Tobar, co-founder and CEO of Valimail, and co-founder of the Authindicators Working Group. “From the very start of our company, we saw the need for expanded and robust standards and have committed to do our part in driving adoption across the entire ecosystem.”

Valimail will be demonstrating its solutions for DMARC, ARC, and BIMI for Microsoft Office 365 users this week at the Microsoft Ignite conference in Orlando. Visit booth #401 for more details and demonstrations of the Valimail platform, including the company’s free DMARC monitoring tool, Valimail Monitor for Office 365.