Support the fact-based journalism you rely on with a donation to Marketplace today. Give Now!
Codebreaker

Anti-phishing campaign unites major tech companies

Marc Sanchez Jan 30, 2012


Today marks the launch of DMARC. That stands for Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance, which sounds kind of boring, but could actually bring some big changes to your inbox. 15 big tech companies, including Google, Facebook, PayPal, and Microsoft, are all part of a group “that plans to promote a standard set of technologies that they say will lead to more secure email,” according to the Wall Street Journal.

The companies hope to set a web standard that, if widely adopted, will vet phishing scams and mark them as possible frauds or stop them from reaching your account all together. Most of us can spot these scams a mile away – you know the emails that explain they’re from a bank and need you to click on a link to update your password, and oh by the way, enter your social security number. Like I said, we can usually spot these, but some criminals are getting more clever, and sometimes you just let your guard down for one second and something slips by. C’mon DMARC, I’m D-ROOTING for you

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.