Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI)
Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) is an email specification designed to allow senders to display a logo or brand-specific image alongside their emails in the recipient's inbox. BIMI aims to enhance email security, increase sender verification, and improve the user experience by associating verified brand logos with emails, thereby reducing the likelihood of phishing and impersonation attempts.
History and Development
- The concept of BIMI was introduced by Valimail and Yahoo in 2014 as a way to fight email fraud.
- In 2016, the specification was handed over to the AuthIndicators Working Group at the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) for further development and standardization.
- The first draft of the BIMI specification was published in 2017, with the goal of creating a standard that could be adopted across different email providers and services.
How BIMI Works
The implementation of BIMI involves several steps:
- DMARC Compliance: Senders must have a valid DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) record published in their DNS, achieving at least a "p=none" policy. This ensures that the sender's domain is authenticated.
- Logo Submission: Senders submit their brand logo to a BIMI-enabled Certificate Authority (CA) for validation. This logo must meet specific technical and legal requirements.
- VMT MCA: The logo is then signed with a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) by the CA, creating a Verified Mark Certificate Authority (VMT MCA). This certificate is published in the sender's DNS.
- Email Header: The sender includes a BIMI-Selector record in their email headers, pointing to the DNS record where the VMT MCA is stored.
- Display: Email clients that support BIMI can then retrieve and display the logo next to the sender's name in the inbox, enhancing the visual identity of the email.
Benefits
- Phishing Protection: By associating emails with verified logos, users can more easily identify legitimate emails, reducing the effectiveness of phishing attempts.
- Brand Recognition: BIMI helps in building trust with customers by ensuring that the brand's logo is consistently displayed with emails.
- Security: It adds an extra layer of verification to email authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
Implementation and Adoption
- As of 2023, BIMI has seen adoption by major email providers like Gmail and Yahoo Mail, with support from companies like Microsoft in Outlook.
- The adoption rate is growing, but it still requires widespread support from email providers to be universally effective.
Challenges and Considerations
- Cost: The certification process and maintenance of BIMI can be costly for small to medium-sized enterprises.
- Security Concerns: While BIMI enhances security, it also requires careful management of the certificates to prevent misuse.
- Implementation Complexity: Setting up BIMI requires technical expertise and a good understanding of email authentication protocols.
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