The leaders represent top brands spanning many industries, including industrial manufacturers Boeing Aircraft, Caterpillar and Exxon; consumer brands Disney, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Sears and Best Buy; technology leaders Cisco, Dell, IBM and Microsoft; and financial institutions AIG, American Express, Bank of America, Citibank, JPMorganChase, New York Life, Wachovia and Wells Fargo. A monthly score card for the Fortune 500 companies is available at www.aotalliance.org.
"These companies are to be commended, and it is our hope others will follow their leadership and make a commitment to online safety," said Craig Spiezle, executive director and chair of AOTA. "Companies that adopt will gain a competitive advantage, and we urge consumers and users to demand that their retailers, banks and insurance companies take these necessary steps. Those who do not adopt authentication are putting their customers, investors and users at an unnecessary risk."
For nearly three years, email authentication has been advocated by the industry and the Federal Trade Commission and is required for membership with the Direct Marketing Association and Email Sender and Provider Coalition. Combined, they estimate that upwards of 85 percent of all email marketers are now compliant. In addition, email authentication is a best practice advocated by TRUSTe, the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG) and Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG).
AOTA Announces Call for Nominations for Online Safety Leadership Awards Program
To recognize the safety efforts of responsible organizations, AOTA has announced a call for nominations of companies who have demonstrated leadership in online safety. Nominated companies must be authenticating outbound email and corporate domain via SenderID or Domain Keys and will be judged based on several criteria including but not limited to:
-- Commitment to user education
-- Industry and business collaboration
-- Dedication to working with governments and law enforcement to bring online criminals to justice
-- Achievements
Nominations can be made through April 2, 2007, at http://www.aotalliance.org/awards.html. Winners will be announced at the upcoming Authentication and Online Trust Summit, April 18-19, 2007 at the Boston Sheraton.
The annual AOTA summit includes experts in global authentication, domain defense and online threats. Keynotes include Massachusetts State Attorney General Martha Coakley, Scott Charney, corporate VP of Microsoft, and Howard Schmidt, former CSO and CIO to eBay and Homeland Security. Additional featured speakers include representatives of the Federal Trade Commission, Homeland Security, Department of Treasury, FBI and Secret Service.
Technology leaders and executives from AOL, Cisco, IronPort, Microsoft, RSA, Secure Computing, Symantec and VeriSign will provide case studies illustrating how IT decision makers can protect their infrastructure, brands and customers. Marketers will hear from the DMA, Epsilon, Datran Media, Acxiom and leading brands including eBay, Bank of America, American Red Cross, Publishers Clearing House, OgilivyOne and GoDaddy.com.
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