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How can I prevent non-human interaction (NHI) during email signup and confirmation?

Summary

Non-human interaction (NHI) during email signup and confirmation poses a significant challenge for marketers and deliverability professionals. These interactions, often driven by automated bots or security scanners, can inflate list sizes with invalid contacts, skew engagement metrics, and potentially lead to deliverability issues. For companies relying on confirmed opt-in (COI) to meet legal or compliance requirements, distinguishing between genuine human engagement and NHI is crucial, especially when local laws may not explicitly define what constitutes a valid COI click in this context. While completely eliminating NHI is likely an unrealistic goal, implementing robust preventative measures at the signup and confirmation stages can significantly reduce its impact.

What email marketers say

Email marketers often find themselves on the front lines of defense against non-human interactions during signup. Their experiences highlight practical, iterative approaches to mitigate these challenges, balancing security with the need for a smooth user experience. Many acknowledge that completely eliminating NHI is an unrealistic expectation, necessitating a focus on harm reduction and maintaining list quality.

Marketer view

An email marketer from Email Geeks suggests exploring alternative channels like SMS or push notifications for verifying opt-in, though they prefer to keep email opt-in within the email ecosystem for consistency.

10 Sep 2024 - Email Geeks

Marketer view

An email marketer from Email Geeks explains they decline signups from IP addresses listed on Spamhaus, finding this an effective method to stop most bot signup attempts from the outset.

10 Sep 2024 - Email Geeks

What the experts say

Industry experts provide a more technical and strategic perspective on combating non-human interaction. They often emphasize the limitations of relying solely on standard methods and highlight the importance of sophisticated detection and mitigation technologies. Their insights underscore the complexity of identifying NHI, especially as automated systems become more advanced.

Expert view

An expert from Email Geeks indicates that blocking CDNs based on assumptions of NHI isn't feasible because legitimate services, like Apple Private Relay, utilize them, and a comprehensive list of security scanner IPs is virtually impossible to maintain.

10 Sep 2024 - Email Geeks

Expert view

An expert from Email Geeks suggests that Email Service Providers (ESPs) that host signup pages are better equipped to handle bot mitigation because they observe greater traffic across all their clients. This allows them to develop robust reputation points and integrate with fraud prevention tools more effectively.

10 Sep 2024 - Email Geeks

What the documentation says

Documentation from cybersecurity and identity management companies sheds light on the broader context of non-human identities (NHIs) and their security implications. While much of this documentation focuses on enterprise-level identity management, the principles of detection, verification, and access control are highly relevant to preventing NHI during email signup and confirmation. It emphasizes that NHIs are pervasive and require dedicated strategies.

Technical article

Documentation from Delinea emphasizes that non-human identities (NHIs) are distinct from human identities and are crucial for automated systems accessing resources or moving data, highlighting the need for specialized management and protection.

20 May 2024 - Delinea.com

Technical article

Omdia's documentation on the Fundamentals of Non-Human Identities identifies key trends and challenges in securing NHIs, outlining essential capabilities for products designed to manage these identities effectively across an enterprise.

15 Mar 2024 - Omdia.tech.informa.com

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