As part of client support, Exware continually updates modules and servers. One of our most recent updates is adding DKIM support to the Email Distribution module. DKIM improves overall deliverability of emails sent via the Email Distribution module. It reduces the chance of these emails getting blocked, spam-filtered, or tagged as possible fraud by the receiving mail system.
DKIM stands for DomainKeys Identified Mail. It works through a system of cryptographic signatures which verify the authenticity of the emails being sent. The way it works is a bit complicated, but below is a quick rundown.
When DKIM is enabled, each email sent contains a unique encrypted signing block embedded in its mail headers. This digital signature is generated using public key cryptography, which is the same technology that keeps websites secure using SSL. When setting up DKIM for a website, a special Email Distribution DKIM public encryption key is added to the domain's DNS. Only the Exware mail server has the matching private key, which means only the Exware server can generate the correct cryptographic signature for each email. The receiving mail server can look up the public key in the DNS and use it to verify the validity of the DKIM signature block in the email. That way it knows the received email is legitimate, as its signature matches what's in the domain's public DNS records.
Since spammers don't have access to the server's private key, and have no ability to mess with another domain's DNS records, they are unable to generate DKIM-signed email. This is why DKIM-signed email is more likely to get past modern spam-filters.
To have this added to your Exware AMS, please contact us as we must set up the system on our servers and update your DNS records to match.
Another recent email change applies to clients whose email is hosted by Exware using Connex Email Manager. This improves deliverability for addresses that forward to a third-party email account. It's done using a technology called Sender Rewriting Scheme (SRS), which modifies some of the mail headers in a way that make it easier for the third-party system to understand that the email has been forwarded. Without SRS in place, some receiving mail systems might reject the forwarded email as possible spam. This improvement has been added automatically to clients whose email is hosted by Exware.