Microsoft, yesterday announced strong momentum in its ongoing work with other technology industry leaders to help promote safety and user trust in the e-mail ecosystem at the second annual Email Authentication Summit in Chicago held today.

Microsoft joins more than 36 companies and industry and business organizations to help plan and underwrite this year's summit in an effort to further build online trust and confidence through effective technologies and prescriptive guidance. The announcement from Microsoft included new details on the adoption of the Sender ID framework for e-mail authentication, as well as the launch of a MSN Postmaster Services program, a set of services to help e-mail senders and Internet service providers (ISPs) better manage their outbound e-mail infrastructure.
 
Sender ID works by verifying the domain name from which e-mail is sent by checking the IP address of the server that sent the message against a published list of legitimate IP addresses for the domain the message claims to be from. Additionally, Microsoft unveiled the new MSN Postmaster Services, designed to help provide vital information, best practices and tools for legitimate ISPs to help better manage their e-mail infrastructure.

"Companies of all sizes are realizing the significant business value of e-mail authentication and reputation services to improve e-mail deliverability and help protect their brand identities," said Craig Spiezle, Director of the Technology Care and Safety Group at Microsoft. "In particular, businesses are adopting Sender ID because it requires few if any changes to most e-mail systems, and typically there are no hard costs or additional software required to implement it, making it simple and cost-effective."