Google supes up email authentication

Google has made a move in the battle against spam with the introduction of a new authentication offering.

The search giant claimed it was the first company to make simple DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) authentication available on a free email client.

DKIM is a signing standard designed to separate an email from spam and thereby ensure the message reaches the intended recipient. Google has made it available for all Google Apps customers for outgoing messages.

To enable to DKIM technology, administrators simply need to head to the Advanced Tools tab in the control panel and switch the service on.

"Once again, the power of the cloud has made it possible for us to bring this feature to millions of customers quickly and affordably," said Adam Dawes, Google enterprise product manager, in a blog.

"As more email providers around the world support DKIM signing, spam fighters will have an even more reliable signal to separate unwanted mail from good mail."

He claimed spam and phishing "epidemics" were not abating. However, recent figures may hint otherwise.

Over Christmas there was a serious dip in spam thanks to a number of mega botnets all but shutting down their spamming activities.

Security researchers have thus far been at a loss to explain why botnets, such as the behemoth that is Rustock, went practically out of contention.