Verified Mark Certificates (VMCs), part of Google-driven Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) initiative, provide a visual trust indicator when Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance (DMARC)-verified emails reach the inbox

DigiCert, Inc., the world’s leading provider of TLS/SSL and PKI solutions, announced that it is now issuing Verified Mark Certificates, compliant with the BIMI standard and available for purchase at scale via DigiCert CertCentral®, DigiCert partners and at www.digicert.com. VMCs issued by DigiCert enable companies to add their trademarked logos to emails they send to their customers to increase recognition, open and engagement rates and brand impressions, while bringing greater trust and transparency to email via DMARC.Gmail now recognizes VMCs and displays company logos in the user’s inbox.

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Paired with the required DMARC enforcement, VMCs are a critical step in a series of security measures that help strengthen email security, build trust in the inbox and help users associate the brand logo with the company they expect to communicate with. VMCs:

• Allow companies to place a verified, trademarked logo alongside their email.
• Enable customers to see the sender’s brand in the inbox of their mobile client before opening the email.
• Provide marketers an affordable way to achieve more brand impressions.

“Validating identity and demonstrating trust are hallmarks of DigiCert’s business,” said DigiCert Senior Director of Business Development Dean Coclin. “With BIMI and VMC from DigiCert for DMARC-verified domains, organizations can now demonstrate to their customers a higher level of email security. DigiCert VMCs not only help reduce instances of spam and spoofing customers receive, because of the DMARC requirement, but they also enable organizations to go beyond displaying default email addresses to increase engagement rates and display their brands more prominently.”

VMCs are available as part of the BIMI standard, which seeks to increase adoption of DMARC as a key email security mechanism. By utilizing VMCs secured by DMARC, organizations demonstrate their commitment to email security and protection of customer privacy. DMARC compliance provides robust security against spoofing and phishing attacks, helping organizations better secure their emails to protect users and brands from costly abuse. Email clients leverage DMARC, an internet standard for authenticating domains to help ensure that email comes from the domain specified.

As an authorized provider of VMCs, DigiCert’s leading validation and issuance teams now provide the company and logo verification required for BIMI, following a one-year pilot with the BIMI Working Group. Several prominent companies participated with DigiCert in the Gmail BIMI/VMC pilot and are excited about being able to display their logos in email inboxes. DigiCert has also partnered with Valimail to streamline DMARC compliance for companies wanting to use VMCs.

“BIMI and VMC are a significant win for customers and brands of all sizes. DMARC ensures customers don’t get spoofed email from the brands they trust, and BIMI ensures brands get increased impressions, open rates and brand trust,” said Seth Blank, Chair of the AuthIndicators (BIMI) Working Group and Chief Product Officer at Valimail. “We’re thrilled to have DigiCert’s help in bringing VMC and BIMI to the world.”

“BIMI authenticates emails using DMARC, a key protection against email phishing, spoofing and other attacks,” explained Gareth Mandel, CEO of eharmony. “We worked closely with our IT department to make sure our organization enforced DMARC so that VMCs could be installed and display our verified logo. Our partnership on this project has even further strengthened the connection between our CRM and IT teams.”

“With the display of validated brand logos and DMARC enforcement, VMCs improve email security and increase open rates,” said Ikko Furuki, CEO of Cybervision Hosting Co., Ltd. “Users can have confidence in knowing which company is sending them the email, which we feel will help protect our customers and increase their loyalty. With the global support of DigiCert and Gmail, we will soon be able to offer VMC in the regions where we do business.”

DigiCert VMCs are available today at any scale via DigiCert CertCentral, DigiCert partners or digicert.com. CertCentral offers automation for organizations to issue, discover, renew and revoke certificates, to drive innovation of manageable, enterprise-scale security. Its intuitive user interface and API-first approach enable easy certificate management at scale. CertCentral customers have access to DigiCert’s global support staff for quick validation and support in 11 native languages in their local time zone as they work to understand and deploy VMCs.

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