America Online is implementing Goodmail's CertifiedEmail program (and phasing out its IP-based Enhanced Whitelist) to defend against fraud and phishing, reports ClickZ. AOL has regularly blocked images and hyperlinks in mass-mailed messages, unless senders are on the AOL Ehanced Whitelist; it will now also allow images and hyperlinks from Goodmail-accredited senders, which pay to be accredited, and will add a "trust symbol" to their messages.
Enhanced Whitelist, which will be phased out by the end June, classifies senders based on their IP addresses, which senders submit to AOL. But IP-based systems can be relatively easily "gamed" by spammers.
"With Goodmail, they're able to certify the [emailing] entity as a whole, not just a certain IP address. Their testing and certification processes are much more rigorous than what an individual ISP can do in a scalable way," Charles Stiles, AOL's postmaster, told ClickZ News.
