StrongMail Sponsors Summit & Calls for Adoption of Email Authentication; Issues New Resources to Help Email Marketers Comply.

REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. -- As a strong proponent of accountability in email and sponsor of this week's Email Authentication Summit II, StrongMail Systems today called for broader industry adoption of email authentication protocols by both the senders and receivers of email.

StrongMail sees email authentication as the critical first step on the road toward establishing sender accountability, ending abusive email practices, and restoring trust and reliability to the email medium. StrongMail believes that Sender ID and Domain Keys Identified Mail (DKIM), though not without their imperfections, are complementary and sufficiently developed to warrant adoption by all legitimate senders and receivers now. Both Sender ID and DKIM are embedded in StrongMail's email infrastructure solutions.

For its part, StrongMail is issuing two new resources to help email senders comply with the authentication standards. The first is a whitepaper for marketers, "Email Authentication: The Time is NOW," that discusses authentication within the context of sender accountability and brand identity. The second, "The Do's and Don'ts of Email Authentication," offers practical tips and advice on authentication best practices. Both resources will be available for download on StrongMail's Web site later in the week.

In addition to its support for email authentication, StrongMail continues to champion other industry efforts to establish standards and restore trust to the email medium. The company is actively engaged in the efforts of Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG) and Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) to curb abusive and fraudulent email practices. StrongMail is also a member of the steering committee for the Email Sender & Provider Coalition (ESPC) and co-chairs the ESPC committee that is responsible for relations with the receiver community.

To underscore the importance of email authentication, Dave Lewis, StrongMail's vice president of alliances and market development, noted: "With 40% adoption of email authentication, the day of reckoning for spammers is fast approaching. Once the senders of email can be definitively identified, they'll be held accountable for their practices. Senders will be assigned a 'reputation score' somewhat akin to a credit rating, and that rating will affect their cost of sending email -- directly through a bond, per email charge or other fee or indirectly through denied access or poor (junk box) placement. While intended to get rid of spam, these measures will also fundamentally alter how legitimate senders of email use the medium too."

About StrongMail Systems, Inc.

StrongMail Systems enables companies to realize the value of digital messaging, with high-performance servers that simplify and enhance outbound email systems. StrongMail servers integrate a complete set of delivery, tracking and management capabilities into a single platform to "business-enable" email and other digital messages, allowing companies to build new revenue streams, improve customer loyalty and reduce costs. StrongMail servers integrate with existing business applications to unlock the potential of digital messaging for enterprises, service providers and ISVs. StrongMail is located in Redwood City, CA and is funded by Evercore Partners, Globespan Capital Partners and Sequoia Capital, the venture capitalists behind Google, Yahoo!, Cisco and Apple. To learn more about StrongMail Systems, visit www.strongmail.com