DomainKeys Identified Mail: Difference between revisions

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DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) is an [[email authentication]] method using a [[digital signature]] added to the the [[Email message headers | headers]] of a message.  The signature provides strong assurance that there was no alteration of selected headers or the body of a message at any point after it left the signer's domain.


'''Definition:''' Email authentication method that uses a digital signature to verify the source of a message.
The signature can be verified by doing a [[DNS]] query for a [[public key]] in the signer's domain.  Thus DKIM security depends on the distribution of public keys through DNS, rather than through a [[Public key infrastructure | Public Key Infrastructure]].


{{r|http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4871 RFC-4871}} - "DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) Signatures", Allman et.al., 2007.
Verification does not depend on IP addresses or the path a message followed from signer to verifier. Thus DKIM avoids the [[Email authentication | forwarding problem]] seen by IP-based authentication methods.
{{r|http://dkim.org DKIM Home Page}}

Revision as of 10:21, 12 October 2009

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DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) is an email authentication method using a digital signature added to the the headers of a message. The signature provides strong assurance that there was no alteration of selected headers or the body of a message at any point after it left the signer's domain.

The signature can be verified by doing a DNS query for a public key in the signer's domain. Thus DKIM security depends on the distribution of public keys through DNS, rather than through a Public Key Infrastructure.

Verification does not depend on IP addresses or the path a message followed from signer to verifier. Thus DKIM avoids the forwarding problem seen by IP-based authentication methods.