Message Systems Named a Top Trusted Website by Online Trust Alliance for Second Year in a Row

Leader in digital messaging software continues to demonstrate exceptional brand protection, online security and privacy best practices

COLUMBIA, Md., June 11, 2014 /CNW/ - Message Systems, the global leader in digital messaging software for cloud-based businesses and large enterprises, today announced that it has been named to the Online Trust Alliance (OTA) 2014 Online Trust Audit and Honor Roll for the second consecutive year. The award recognizes companies that demonstrate exceptional data protection, privacy and security in an effort to better protect their customers and brand from the increased threats of cybercriminals.

OTA, a nonprofit organization that works collaboratively with industry leaders to enhance online trust and empower users, completed a wide-ranging audit of DNS, email and privacy policies – including DMARC authentication – to develop the Honor Roll, analyzing over 10,000 web pages and 500 million emails for this report.

"The growing success of DMARC shows how the industry is taking the lead on using effective authentication technologies to protect both end-users and customers," said Phillip Merrick, chief executive officer at Message Systems. "In today's hyper-connected world, it is crucial to maintain a safe and secure messaging environment. Congratulations to fellow honorees who are helping to make sure best practices become standards in the industry."

"In light of the evolving threat landscape, it is critical to take a holistic view of brand protection, security and privacy," said Craig Spiezle, president and executive director of the Online Trust Alliance. "Making a concerted effort to promote privacy is becoming a brand differentiator and being an Honor Roll recipient serves as a 'North Star' for others to follow."

The Honor Roll's composite analysis focused on more than a dozen attributes from three major categories: 1) domain, brand and consumer protection; 2) site, server and infrastructure security; and 3) data protection, privacy and transparency. Additionally, the audit evaluated variances between websites and their mobile apps on the iOS and Android platforms, as well as the security controls and privacy practices advocated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the National Telecommunication Information Administration (NTIA). Examples include adoption of DMARC, increased SSL granularity, as well as upgrading to 2048-bit SSL certificates.

"We take customer privacy and data security very seriously, so we are proud to have once again been selected for the OTA Honor Roll," said Ralph Lentz, chief revenue officer at Message Systems. "The Message Systems digital messaging platform plays a key role in maintaining secure messaging environments within many of the world's most popular Internet brands, financial services firms and telecommunications companies. Working with the OTA to spread adoption of DMARC and data security best practices is an important priority for Message Systems and we look forward to carrying out that mission with our customers and partners through 2014 and in the years ahead."

The Honor Roll is an annual program that seeks to 1) recognize leadership and commitment to best practices which aid in the protection of online trust and confidence in online services; 2) help businesses to enhance their security, data protection and privacy practices; 3) move businesses from compliance to stewardship, demonstrating support of meaningful self-regulation; and 4) promote security and privacy as part of a company's brand promise and value proposition. The program was started in 2005 as an effort to drive adoption of best practices.

To review the full 2014 Honor Roll report, please download a free copy at: https://otalliance.org/HonorRoll.html

About The Online Trust Alliance (OTA)
The Online Trust Alliance (OTA) is a 501(c)(3) charitable non-profit with the mission to enhance online trust and empower users, while promoting innovation and the vitality of the Internet. OTA's goal is to help educate businesses, policy makers and stakeholders while developing and advancing best practices and tools to enhance the protection of users' security, privacy and identity. OTA supports collaborative public-private partnerships, benchmark reporting, and meaningful self-regulation and data stewardship.

About Message Systems
Message Systems solutions power a global network of the largest, most complex messaging operations, such as Internet businesses Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, and top email marketing companies like Yesmail and Marketo, which collectively send over 2.5 trillion messages a year — 20 percent of the world's legitimate email. Our solutions enable the world's largest social networks and e-businesses, and global leaders in banking, consumer technology and telecommunications, to integrate messaging with any number of data sources and applications to orchestrate real-time two-way customer interactions through any messaging stream. The result is more effective customer communication that boosts engagement, drives down costs, increases revenue and builds closer relationships. For more information follow us on Twitter @MessageSystems or go to messagesystems.com.

Contact:
Leslie Grant
SHIFT Communications
[phone]
[email protected]

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SOURCE: Message Systems

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