GoodMail Imprinters

AOL announced on January 30, 2006 that it will begin implementing Goodmail's cryptographic CertifiedEmail program. This is a continuing effort by AOL to protect its members from email fraud and phishing, and to offer consistency to commercial email senders.

StrongMail recognizes services, such as Goodmail, as critical to achieving sender accountability, thereby restoring trust and reliability to the email channel. As such, we are integrating Goodmail Systems functionality into our products - in both software and appliance form. For more information, read the following FAQ and our October 2004 partnership announcement.

• What is Goodmail CertifiedEmail?
• How does Goodmail's CertifiedEmail service work?
• What do I need to do to send Goodmail CertifiedEmail?
• What is StrongMail's role in enabling CertifiedEmail?
• What does StrongMail offer in support of Goodmail CertifiedEmail?
• How do I get the StrongMail token imprinter capability?

What is Goodmail CertifiedEmail?

The Goodmail CertifiedEmail service identifies email from Goodmail-accredited senders and assures delivery to the inboxes of subscribers of leading mailbox providers, including AOL and Yahoo!. The emails are labeled with a symbol indicating that they are safe to open and helps to shield consumers from spam, fraud and phishing.

How does Goodmail's CertifiedEmail service work?

Goodmails's CertifiedEmail is based on the premise that a neutral 3rd party (Goodmail) has audited the sender's email practices and has deemed them to be consistent with generally accepted best practices.  By passing this scrutiny, the sender is granted access to the Goodmail token generator, which generates a unique token for each email sent, and can safely be included in the header of the email.  Receiving ISP's (such as AOL) can see the token, check with Goodmail that it is a valid, non-tampered token and will treat that email as they would treat other "whitelisted" emails.  In AOL's case that means the email doesn't need to go through any other filters, and will be delivered to the Inbox with images and links displayed. There will also be an icon in the Inbox and frame around the actual email that assures the recipient that it is safe and secure.

What do I need to do to send Goodmail CertifiedEmail?

The first thing is to get accredited by Goodmail as an email sender that adheres to the strict guidelines that Goodmail requires. Once you are accredited by Goodmail, you will be able to access Goodmail's token generator and imprint the token into each of your emails that are going to AOL (and soon Yahoo). AOL will see the token, validate it, and forward the email to the inbox without any further filtering, and with the images and links enabled.

Today, Goodmail is going through a "Charter" phase where they are only signing up a limited number of charter members through the middle of 2006. Whether or not you are accepted into the charter program, you can still get accredited now. That way, once the charter phase is complete and Goodmail opens up the service to all accredited senders, you will be ready to go. It also makes sense to upgrade your systems now so that they are ready to send CertifiedEmail when the charter phase is complete. For additional details on GoodMail's Charter Program, click here.

What is StrongMail's role in enabling CertifiedEmail?

Every message sent through the Goodmail CertifiedEmail service is embedded with a cryptographically-secure token.  Goodmail tokens are detected by participating ISPs so the messages can be delivered to recipients' inboxes--not junk or bulk folders. The messages are identified with the CertifiedEmail symbol--a mark that indicates the message is from a trusted sender and can be opened with greater confidence. 

StrongMail, through our commercial MTA offering - StrongMail Express is one of only two providers who will offer a Goodmail-tested and approved appliance pre-configured with the token imprinting capabilities for the CertifiedEmail service.  To qualify for this distinction, the StrongMail platform has passed Goodmail's rigorous stress testing, met high scalability and throughput requirements, and will operate with the most current version of Goodmail specifications at all times.

What does StrongMail offer in support of Goodmail CertifiedEmail?

StrongMail email infrastructure software can be configured to automatically insert the Goodmail token into the email header of all outgoing emails.  This is offered as part of StrongMail's MTA product - StrongMail Express.  This can be installed as either a replacement for an existing MTA (such as Sendmail), or can be used as a pre-processor that inserts the token into each outgoing email before passing it along to the sending MTA.

How do I get the StrongMail token imprinter capability?

Currently the StrongMail MTA with CertifiedEmail support, and the StrongMail imprinter appliance are only available to Goodmail CertifiedEmail charter members. Once the charter program is complete and Goodmail has opened the program to all accredited senders, the products will be made generally available.