An email was issued to BT Broadband customers in late April that prompted some speculation over its authenticity. It read as follows (abridged version): Hello, We're changing the terms and conditions for accessing the email that comes with your BT Broadband - BT Yahoo! Mail. From 17 June this year, you'll need to log in to your email account at least once every 150 days. If you don't,... Continue »

Because sites that are subject to attacks from spam and phishing emails do not always know that there is a problem, they often rely on their subscribers to tell them that something is wrong. Now, by implementing DMARC, senders and receivers can be more proactive when fighting spammers. In order to benefit from DMARC, you'll need to be signing your emails with both SPF and DKIM. Yesterday,... Continue »

Certainly SPF and DKIM should be your first ports of call when it comes to implementing DMARC and email authentication. You can read what DMARC is and why it's important here. SPF records are examimed when email receivers check to see if the server that sent the email was authorised to do so by the senders domain. It’s a great way for ISP’s to detect forged email. As an example, if you receive... Continue »

In order to generate more revenue from their subscribers, some companies get permission from their recipients to “share” data with other companies. This permission normally takes the form of a statement within the privacy policy or the signup form. To illustrate, I’ve taken a couple of statements from a website that’s used by consumers to buy motor car insurance. “Your personal information is used... Continue »

I’d like to start with a true story. Last Sunday evening I was just finishing cooking dinner when there was a knock at the door, upon opening it a man told me, “I’m terribly sorry but I’ve just reversed into your car”. After a brief conversation, I found out he lived just down the road and agreed to meet up the following day to swap insurance details.So what’s this preamble got to do with... Continue »