Crocker Coulson President of CCG Investor Relations +1-646-213-1915
Crocker Coulson, President of CCG Investor Relations, +1-646-213-1915, . SEATTLE, WA and SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Apr 23 (MARKETWIRE) -- Today the Online Trust Alliance (OTA) expanded its researchfindings byissuing a poor grade to Fortune 500 companies for failing toappropriately protect consumers from online fraud. OTA found only 37percent of these companiesauthenticate their email and/or implementExtended Validation Security Socket Layer (EV SSL) certificates --techniques which offer increased protection from online fraud anddeceptive email. This most recent research follows an OTAstudy withsimilar results on the 300 leading Internet retailers and governmentagencies."Although there is no silver bullet to stop online fraud, adoption of openstandards like email authentication and EV SSL certificates are industrybest practices, and essential to restoring the consumer's sense ofsecurity and privacy," said OTA Chairman and Founder, Craig Spiezle. "OTAand its members are committed to providing the resources businesses needto enhance online trust."OTA found Fortune 100 companies have a somewhat higher adoption rate foremail authentication and/or EV SSL certificates (45 percent) compared withthe Fortune 500 as a whole, showing top companies recognize andproactively capture opportunities to safeguard their brands andcustomers. While these results show year-to-year growth, they are stilldisappointing considering that over 50 percent have yet to adopt thesesecurity measures.This data is somewhat mitigated by OTA research revealing an estimated 85percent of all commercial and transactional email is now beingauthenticated.
This has been achieved with the support of theAnti-Phishing Working Group (APWG), the Interactive Advertising Bureau(IAB), Direct Marketing Association (DMA), and the Email Sender andProvider Coalition (ESPC). OTA is encouraged by this progress, but notesthat marketers must leverage their expertise and aid in the protection ofthe domains most recognizable by the consumer, not just the ones that sendemail. Furthermore, marketers need to commit to ongoing maintenance toassure the highest level of accuracy in the email they authenticate."The data for the largest companies and email marketers is encouraging,yet represents a disconnect between IT professionals, marketers and thestewards of the corporate brand," said Spiezle. "It is imperative thesegroups join forces and adopt authentication principles before their brandsand stockholders are harmed."Email authentication helps Internet Service Providers (ISPs), hosters andbusiness networks validate that the sender of a message is authorized bythe domain holder to send email.
By taking this step, consumers and brandsrealize added protection in detecting forged email.OTA is also reporting a more than 100 percent increase in the adoption ofEV SSL certificates over the past year. EV SSL certificates clearlyidentify a legitimate website, usually with a green identifier in abrowser's address bar, and were created to address the rise in Internetfraud that was eroding consumer confidence in online transactions.In January of 2008, OTA called on the world's top financial institutionsand eCommerce sites to adopt EV SSL. As of today, four of the five largestorganizations worldwide have done so -- Bank of America, General Electric,HSBC and JP Morgan Chase -- and 25 percent of the top 1000 eCommerce sitesthat had used SSL certificates have now migrated to EV SSL. Furthermore,through the efforts of OTA, the Merchant Risk Council and CA/BrowserForum, today all of the mainstream web browsers, including Apple Safari,Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Opera,support EV SSL -- up from only Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 just a yearago.OTA is calling on all eCommerce, banking and leading governmental sites toadopt both email authentication and EV SSL certificates within the nextsix months. Those brands that adopt will be taking a step forward inprotecting their consumers and enhancing online trust.
In addition, OTA iscalling on all ISPs to integrate inbound email authentication verificationas a best practice. Despite progress by leading ISPs, others have notembraced this opportunity to better protect consumers with emailauthentication.OTA and its members are providing resources to aid businesses in theiradoption of both email authentication and EV SSL certificates forecommerce sites. A working group of OTA members and industry leaders aremeeting today in San Francisco, and will be publishing guidelines andrecommendations within the next month. Information will be posted at https:// an overview of the methodology, a complete list of results and OTAemail authentication resources, visit https:// The Online Trust Alliance (OTA) mission of OTA is to create a trusted global online ecosystem andfoster the elimination of email and Internet fraud, abuse and cybercrime;thereby enhancing trust, confidence, and the protection of businesses andconsumers.