New email security software from Yahoo!

4th October 2007

Yahoo! has announced the introduction of new technology to its email system that it says will filter out bogus emails purporting to be from eBay and PayPal.

According to the company, the new DomainKeys software works by verifying the domain name that the email seemingly comes from.

If the message is deemed to be fraudulent, it will be blocked.

Yahoo! is installing the software this week and says it will have completed a global roll out in the next few weeks.

Commenting on the announcement, CNET News said: "Although most companies warn their customers that they won't send unsolicited emails asking for usernames and passwords, many people are still fooled.

"Blocking the scam emails before they hit in-boxes should cut down on the problem. Now, when is Yahoo! going to do this for the major banks?"

A study carried out by MessageLabs found that one in every 173 emails is some form of phishing attempt.