It’s your first day at your new job, and as you climb aboard the train to work, your phone pings. Your new manager emailed you! Their friendly welcome email includes a link to your task list. However, when you the link and enter some details, you’ve fallen for a phishing scam. This scenario shouldn’t be hard to imagine, as it happens all the time.
Experts estimate that 3.4 billion phishing emails arrive in vulnerable inboxes every day. Each malicious send raises critical security risks and threatens business reputations and revenues worldwide. Thankfully, specific technologies like BIMI help legitimate teams and brands identify themselves over email to curb online scams.
How can brands verify their emails online?
Brand Indicators for Message Identification, or BIMI, provides rapid, reliable authentication for business emails. The service lets brands display their company logos next to each legitimate email, building consumer trust and thwarting scammers. Already, mainstream providers like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and more incorporate BIMI into their security infrastructure. Widespread industry acceptance highlights BIMI’S power and potential in the fight against phishing.
How does BIMI work?
BIMI works by participating in a network of other security protocols within a company’s domain infrastructure. Primarily, the system relies on a company’s DMARC protocols (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance). DMARC communicates with recipient email servers, helping them decide whether to Quarantine or Reject incoming sends, or take no action whatsoever. In turn, these protocols also rely on SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and/or DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail). Businesses store these records in their domain files, then receiving email servers check them to authorize the protocol, supporting a verified brand logo on your emails.
How do businesses get their BIMI brand logos certified?
BIMI systems need one final piece of the puzzle to verify their user’s logos: authorized certification. When brands get a trademark on their logo, they also access a digital form of verification called VMC, or Verified Mark Certificates. Experts deliver these VMCs so that businesses can incorporate them into their DMARC protocols, and email servers with BIMI to proudly display their logos in their recipients’ inboxes.
The benefits of email verification, BIMI, and VMC
BIMI reinforces a vital communication channel for digital businesses. With the tools in hand, you ward off cybercrime, expand your digital footprint, and legitimize a valuable ecommerce stream. Establishing BIMI for your business, partnering with an expert to support the system, and discovering more about email verification will all help you boost and protect your brand.
To learn more about BIMI, and how it can change your email outreach for the better, check out our free fact sheet from the EBRAND experts.
