BIMI: A Visual Approach to Email Security and Authentication

Logos influence our decision to open an email and how we evaluate the relevance of each communication. Using branding rules and visual clues present in logos, Brand Indicators for Message Identification or BIMI tries to make it simpler for us to immediately identify key information within emails.

Users have become increasingly sceptical in the recent years about the validity of emails, which has become a huge concern for organizations battling spam. BIMI provides information about a brand's identity to email subscribers. The logo that is attached to verified emails is completely under the authority and discretion of the firm. In general, BIMI adds a layer of security to the existing email authentication procedure.

What is BIMI?

Email marketers are continuously looking for new methods to improve engagement and visibility among their subscribers, which leads to higher open and conversion rates. Brand Indicators for Message Identification or BIMI is a new standard that makes it simple for a user's brand logo to appear alongside their email message in the inbox. This not only improves brand awareness but also improves deliverability by eliminating bogus emails.

BIMI is a useful tool for establishing trust and improving subscriber experience, which is something that every company aspires for at every level of their email program. BIMI makes it easier for recipients to recognize a brand in their inbox. This builds trust, which can boost a company's ability to deliver top quality services and products.

The DMARC protocol is used by BIMI. The associated domains must first be validated by DMARC to guarantee their validity before the brand's logo may be displayed as part of BIMI. By using the company's investment in DMARC from a visibility and cybersecurity aspect, BIMI helps to increase the brand's value.

As the legal brand logo grows more familiar among diverse audiences, several features improve. It may boost email engagement while lowering the risk of brand impersonation and email-borne assaults like phishing, spoofing, and business email compromise (BEC).

Getting ready for BIMI

There are two important factors for deploying BIMI:

• Have a DMARC policy configured (set to either p=reject or p=quarantine). 
• Maintain a good reputation as a sender (via a high engagement rate with low bounce and spam complaints).
• Get a VMC.

Configuring DMARC's underlying technologies, SPF and DKIM, informs the world that a business is serious and cares about their domain's reputation, which improves brand reputation as a sender, despite the subjective nature of reputation. DMARC is a fundamental security protocol that will provide the foundation for future domain security initiatives.

Gmail and BIMI

Verizon Media, which included Yahoo!, AOL, and Netscape, had backed BIMI, while Fastmail and Gmail were still working on their pilot program. The founders of BIMI announced in July 2021 that Google was formally bringing out BIMI to all Gmail inboxes, which had been a long time coming.

Email is a practical communication medium utilized by 80% of all organizations throughout the world, and it's not going away anytime soon. Email security enhancements must be ongoing and ever-evolving at a time when attackers are seeking to begin phishing operations by impersonating sender identities.

VMC for BIMI

Verified Mark Certificates is a service that allows businesses to show verified brand emblems in the sender field of their clients. VMC builds on BIMI standards to assist companies in starting their BIMI journey with certified brand logos displaying in their recipients' inboxes, rather than a random logo that does not reflect their brand in any way.

A VMC is issued by a reputable certifying organization. The following conditions must be satisfied, as with BIMI:

• Make sure your brand logo is trademarked.
• Ensure that your emails are DMARC compliant.
• Have your brand logo ready (in SVG format) in compliance with BIMI specifications.

After you’ve obtained a VMC, you are ready for BIMI. 

In the world of the internet, logos and looks matter a lot, Hence, it becomes necessary to have an authentic logo on your email profile. With BIMI, you can do just that. To learn more about the benefits of BIMI and other email authentication protocols head to EmailAuth. 

Note: EmailAuth.io is part of the Infosec Ventures group and our core value lies in taking care of your most valuable digital asset: Email. We thrive to increase your Email Deliverability and help you get the maximum ROI from your mailing campaigns and increase trust amongst your customers, partners and vendors!