Yahoo, PayPal, eBay Roll Out Authentication Technology

Yahoo Inc., eBay Inc. and PayPal have joined forces to protect customers against fraudulent e-mails and phishing attacks with the implementation of new authentication technology.

From today, eBay and PayPal customers worldwide using Yahoo! Mail and Yahoo!7 Mail in Australia can expect fewer fake e-mails claiming to be sent by eBay and PayPal. Yahoo! Mail is the first Web mail service to block these types of malicious messages for eBay and PayPal through the use of DomainKeys e-mail authentication technology, which is already available in Yahoo!7 Mail.

The technology upgrade will be rolled out globally over the next few weeks to users of the service.

PayPal CISO, Michael Barrett, said the adoption of digital e-mail signing technology and the aggressive collaborative stance being taken by all three companies is a significant step forward in the fight to protect customers against e-mail based crimes. "While the battle against phishing and identity theft scammers will continue to require a multi-faceted approach, today's announcement demonstrates the power of DomainKeys and the security benefits to be gained by e-mail users worldwide," Barrett said.

PayPal operates more than 153 million accounts in 190 markets and in 17 currencies around the globe.

Both eBay and PayPal are early adopters of DomainKeys technology. It provides a unique way to verify the authenticity of e-mail messages, allowing Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to determine if messages should be delivered to a customer's inbox.

The collaborative effort between Yahoo!7, eBay and PayPal will block unauthenticated e-mail, reducing the volume of counterfeit e-mail and lowering the risk of unauthorized account activity and identity theft due to phishing attacks. eBay CISO, Dave Cullinane, said through cooperation the industry can collectively stamp out phishing and other e-mail scams.