eBay, PayPal Team up with Gmail to Fight Phishing

Through the use of DomainKeys and DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) e-mail authentication technology, Google is able to prevent the delivery of fraudulent eBay and PayPal messages into Gmail users’ inboxes. The initiative protects Gmail, eBay and PayPal customers worldwide.

“The Gmail team’s decision to work with eBay and PayPal on this issue is a significant step forward in our fight to keep consumers safe from phishing and cybercrime,” said Michael Barrett, chief information security officer of PayPal. “Today’s announcement will enhance online safety for millions of eBay and PayPal customers who use Gmail.”

DomainKeys technology adds another layer to spam and phishing protections by allowing Internet service providers to determine if messages are real and decide if they should be delivered to a customer’s inbox. The collaboration between eBay, PayPal and Gmail will lower consumers’ risk of being victimized by phishing attacks through the reduction of fraudulent e-mail consumers receive.

”We’re always looking for ways to eliminate unwanted e-mail from our users’ inboxes,” said Brad Taylor, senior staff software engineer in charge of Gmail’s anti-spam efforts. “Phishing is an especially nasty form of spam, so we appreciate having another weapon in our arsenal against it. We’re glad to be working with eBay and PayPal to protect our users.”

“Industry cooperation represents a pivotal part of stamping out phishing and other e-mail scams,” said Dave Cullinane, chief information security officer at eBay. “Google’s commitment to this battle will undoubtedly encourage others to join in the fight to keep consumers safe online.”

About DomainKeys and DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM)

DomainKeys and DKIM address the widespread issue of e-mail forgery, using cryptography to verify the domain of the sender. It allows e-mail providers to validate an e-mail’s originating domain, making use of blacklists and whitelists more effective. It also makes phishing attacks easier to detect by helping to identify abusive domains. In May 2007, the Internet Engineering Task Force approved DKIM as a proposed Internet standard — RFC 4871. More information is available at http://dkim.org/.