Google is fortifying its email security for Gmail by adding validated logo displays on authenticated emails in an effort to prevent cybercriminals from tricking unsuspecting victims into phishing scams.
The company announced it will be rolling out support for Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) over the next few weeks, which provides recipients further verification of the sender’s identification; making it difficult for scam artists to impersonate otherwise trusted brands or people.
Gmail’s support for BIMI was announced last year, which Google states is the “industry standard that aims to drive adoption of strong sender authentication for the entire email ecosystem.”
Companies such as Back of America have adopted the feature on Gmail, with the usual “B” initial display now changed the company’s official logo. The updated security feature will be available for both browsers and smartphone applications.
Organizations that authenticate emails using Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) will see BIMI support, with their validated logos being displayed on authenticated emails from their domains and subdomains.
The introduction of BIMI will support the validation of trademarked logos from companies, seeing as notable brands are usually targeted by malicious scammers. This year, we’ve already seen an info-stealing malware campaign mimicking Microsoft, Spotify and more.
It’s a welcome feature to add to Google’s built-in protections that automatically filter out potentially malicious messages. Microsoft Exchange also added a similar anti-phishing feature earlier this year.
As stated in the announcement, the list of validated authorities is expected to expand in the future, meaning we’ll hopefully see less successful scams taking place. As for those who are sick of getting scams calls, there is a way your phone can permanently stop spam calls.
