"There's been talk for some time now that ISPs would eventually take into consideration whether an email was authenticated when deciding whether to block email from a particular sender," says Chad White in a post at the Retail Email blog. For this reason, he was intrigued when Hotmail flagged an offer from Office Depot—a sender on his safe list—as potentially dangerous. The ominous warning read, "This message has been blocked for your safety."

When he clicked on the "learn more" link, White discovered this explanation: "Windows Live Hotmail treats all messages that fail Sender ID and phishing tests as fraudulent and warns the user about opening these messages."

White clicked on "Open message," but that didn't stop Hotmail from continuing to sound the alarm. "[A]ll the images in the email were blocked," he notes. "And even after I clicked 'Show content,' the email still carried the warning that it 'may be dangerous.'"

According to White, this is the first such warning he has received about email from a legitimate retailer—and a good reason for marketers to worry. Time to step up.

"Getting your emails authenticated should be your top New Year's resolution," White concludes.

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