Since mid-2021, Gmail has invited companies to use secure authentication systems and verify their brand logo if they want it to appear as an avatar next to their emails. The intention of this measure, as we indicated at the time, was to shield the service against growing phishing attacks.
Now, the Mountain View giant has just announced that it will take its verification system for companies a step further. When receiving a message from a sender verified with the aforementioned system, recipients will also see a blue check that will help them “identify messages from legitimate senders against impersonators.”
How Gmail blue verification check work
Google explains that when we pass the course on the blue Gmail verification check we will see a note that will say “the sender of this email has been verified “. Although this function is intended for companies, it will be available in all the mail services of the Mountain View giant (Workspace and personal accounts) in the coming days.
This Gmail verification system is based on the Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) standard. This means that companies that want to use it must meet two important security requirements. On the one hand, we have domain-based authentication (DMARC), which prevents attackers from impersonating a company or falsifying its domain.
On the other hand, use a brand logo that is accompanied by a VMC certificate. This type of certificate can only be applied for by trademarks registered in the intellectual property offices of a number of countries. This means that technically only legitimate companies and organizations can obtain it and display it, for example, in their outgoing emails.
The blue verification check, as we can see, is no longer something exclusive to social networks. In addition to being present on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter, the latter with many changes to its system, it has also reached Gmail. We have to wait and see if this solution will achieve its goal: reduce spam, prevent identity theft and improve user confidence.
