Past Year Sees Strong Adoption of Email Authentication Standards With 60 Percent Growth; Summit 2006 Reflects Momentum of Industry Adoption

CHICAGO, April 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly a year after a very successful inaugural event, the Email Authentication Summit II will convene this April reflecting on a year of growth in the adoption of email authentication standards by the world's leading Internet service providers, email service providers and business organizations. This year's summit, under the theme "Summit II - Authentication & Reputation - Building Online Confidence," will be held Wednesday April 19, 2006, at the Chicago Hilton.

The authentication landscape has changed immensely over the past year as an increasing numbers of ISPs, marketing organizations and leading businesses worldwide are now supporting authentication. In less than 12 months, adoption has increased over 60 percent and more than 35 percent of all mail sent is now authenticated. Driving the movement are industry leaders that are on the forefront of the war on spam and fraudulent email, leaders whose efforts include important educational efforts aimed at helping empower organizations to protect themselves through events such as the Email Authentication Summit II.

"It's been a great year for authentication as we're seeing strong adoption from both senders and ISPs," said Craig Spiezle, chair of the event and director of the Technology Care and Safety Group at Microsoft Corp. "Authentication is a win-win situation for everyone. ESPs are seeing how this technology can help increase deliverability of legitimate email. Marketers are using it to help protect their brands and restore a trusted relationship with their customers, and ISPs are taking advantage of authentication to help protect their members from fraudulent email and spam. I'm encouraged by this growth and the industry's commitment to improving online trust and user confidence."

Event Backers Making a Real Difference in Stopping Spam and Fraudulent Email
The Summit is being organized and underwritten by the Email Authentication Summit steering committee which includes AOL, the Anti-Phishing Working Group, Cisco Systems Inc., Digital Impact Inc., the Direct Marketing Association, the Email Sender and Provider Coalition, Epsilon Interactive, Goodmail Systems, Habeas Inc., IronPort Systems, Microsoft Corp., Return Path Inc., SKYLIST Inc., StrongMail Systems Inc. and Symantec Corp.

The event brings together industry and business, with a focus on case studies and real world deployment. Key industry speakers include Dave Anderson, chairman of the board, Sendmail; Ken Schneider, chief architect, network and gateway security solutions, Symantec Corp.; Sanjay Pol, vice president, new business ventures, messaging security, Cisco Systems Inc.; and Brian Arbogast, corporate vice president, MSN Communications Platform, MSN and Personal Services Division, Microsoft Corp.

The Summit also brings together a broad range of thought leaders representing the business and marketing community including Dave Jevans, chairman of APWG; Laura Mather, director of fraud prevention, eBay; Trevor Hughes, executive director of the ESPC; Jerry Cerasale, senior vice president of government affairs, the DMA; and Michael Zaneis, director for congressional and public affairs, US Chamber of Commerce.

Supporting all current authentication standards, including DomainKeys Identified Mail and the Sender ID Framework, the Summit is designed for marketers, IT professionals and business decision makers who are looking to reduce spam from hitting their networks, improve deliverability and confidence in email, protect users from phishing exploits and protect their domains and brands from online exploits. With user confidence being tarnished by spam, phishing and ID theft, this event provides an opportunity to help ensure the viability of the Internet and secure messaging.

The event will take place at the Chicago Hilton, 720 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. Accredited press may register free of charge online.