Authentication Adoption by the Numbers

E-mail infrastructure player IronPort, which monitors over 1/4 of global e-mail traffic through its SenderBase network, has some new statistics on the adoption of e-mail authentication technologies.

Key findings from the study include:
* 35% of all Internet email is now authenticated using the Sender ID Framework (SIDF)
* 9% of all Internet email is now using DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM)
* 75% of all Fortune 100 companies use SIDF for marketing related email, 45% use DKIM
* 9 of the top 10 most phished domains use SIDF, 5 out of 10 use DKIM

IronPort points to the results as evidence of critical mass, which it says signals that it’s time for reputation services to emerge as the next step.

“Email authentication is a ‘chicken or egg problem’, with senders dependent on receivers and receivers on senders to get value from e-mail authentication. This study proves we have achieved critical mass and the benefits are accruing today,” Patrick Peterson, IronPort’s CTO, said in a statement.