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[ietf-dkim] DKIM support in MUAs

2010-10-14 08:06:19
Graham Murray wrote:
An MUA does not have to do filtering in order to support DKIM. It could
display the Authentication Results header, or take some action
depending
on whether there is a valid DKIM signature - in a similar way that some
web browsers will turn the URL bar green when the site presents a valid
'extended validation' certificate.

I think this is a very bad idea. Many people with quite a bit of technical 
knowledge struggle to grasp what DKIM really does (I am, or used to be, among 
them). What is really does (cryptographically attach a domain name to an email) 
is of little value to the end user.

Worse, there are plentiful examples where this may be misleading to the end 
user. Think of a phish with a valid DKIM signature (of the phisher's domain). 
Or an email DKIM-signed by Gmail from your friend who "is in London, had all 
his possessions stolen and asks if he can borrow $2000 ASAP"; the fact that 
Gmail signed the message doesn't make it any less likely that your friend's 
account hasn't been hacked into. I am not a psychologist, but I believe that to 
many an end user a valid signature will suggest the email should somehow be 
trusted.

(Taking some action, such as putting a messages in an appropriate folder, or 
giving it a blue background, based on a valid DKIM signature of a valid domain 
is a different matter.)

Martijn.


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