The increasing threat of office e-mails being misused has forced software giants like Microsoft to push for changes in protocol for mail servers.CNBC-TV18 reports.

Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, Lotus notes and most other popular desktop email applications can easily be used to clone email ids. Simple mail transfer protocol, popularly known as SMTP, allows a person to create anyone''s display name and official company id, send out mails from that id and potentially inflict huge losses with astounding ease.

Microsoft, which dominates the email client market with its outlook software, admits that this is a serious problem and can only be tackled by making the mail protocol itself more foolproof.

"We, along with other industry leaders, are trying to change the SMTP protocol so that it becomes possible to identify the sender and the server," says Doug Hogger, COO, Microsoft Corporation.

The increasing cases of abuse have put a question mark on the credibility of e-mail as a mode of secure communication. Experts agree that there is very little that can help one separate an authentic mail from a forged one.

"There is no way to establish that the mail is coming from the sender, except by physically calling him up and checking," says Vijay Mukhi, cyber expert.

Companies that have been hit by such mail abuse are now finally veering around towards tackling the menace with software providers. Setting up encrypted email solutions to authenticate senders is a common solution. But with limited awareness among users of this loophole, fraudsters and mischief-makers are having a field day.

align="left">

align="left">