Microsoft Not Going Nuclear On Sender ID

After some further research, it looks like Microsoft isn't going to start blocking non-Sender ID email wholesale.

Initial research revealed multiple sources claiming Microsoft would start block mail without Sender ID from its Hotmail service starting around November. This appears to not be the case. The initial source seemed to be a poorly worded AP article. The misinformation was further propagated by under-researched quickly written articles (like those found on this site).

What they are going to do is start more heavily weighing the lack of Sender ID when determine whether or not to block a message. Microsoft probably uses a technology similar to fuzzy logic within its Hotmail email filtering. This would allow it to evaluate multiple factors when filtering messages.

This still doesn't seem like that great an idea. 75% of all domains currently lack Sender ID data. That number may decrease by November, but it would seem likely that over half of all domains wouldn't comply with the standard by then. A message lacking Sender ID data couldn't reliably be considered much more likely to be unsolicited spam.

Microsoft seems determined to get its fingers into internet email standards. Sender ID does offer some protection against phishing scams. Its functionality does not really do for general spam prevention. Microsoft may have better luck promoting its ideas if they addressed the problem at large as opposed to a small segment of it.

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