Microsoft says it is committed to working with the IT industry to help protect users and businesses from the blight of online threats. Sender ID, the leading e-mail authentication protocol, aims to help stop the spread of spam, phishing scams, malware and other online exploits in e-mail by helping address domain spoofing, a tactic used in over 95 percent of all exploits where the name in the "To:" line of the e-mail is forged.

After nearly two years of worldwide deployment to more than 600 million users, Sender ID already enjoys broad industry support. The application of the OSP will promote further industry interoperability by making the e-mail authentication framework more clearly available to the entire Internet ecosystem, including customers, partners, Internet service providers, registrars and the developer community, no matter what model they use -- commercial, open source or academic.

"The ESPC members have long recognized the need for strong spam solutions that help ensure the delivery of legitimate e-mail, and we welcome Microsoft's announcement today as another positive step for the delivery of safe and authentic e-mails," said Trevor Hughes, executive director of the Email Sender & Provider Coalition (ESPC).