DMARC, which stands for "Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance," is an email validation system designed to protect your email domain from being used for email spoofing, phishing scams, and other cybercrimes. Here's a simple guide to understand DMARC:
What is DMARC?
1. Email Protection: DMARC helps in securing your email domain—the part of your email address after the "@" symbol. It ensures that the emails sent from this domain are authentic and haven't been tampered with.
2. Combats Spoofing: Email spoofing is when someone sends emails that look like they are from your email address, but they are not. DMARC helps prevent this, making it harder for scammers to trick people using your email identity.
How Does DMARC Work?
1. Linking to SPF and DKIM: DMARC works alongside two other email security protocols—SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail). SPF allows domain owners to specify which email servers are permitted to send emails on their behalf. DKIM provides an encryption key and digital signature that verifies that an email message was not faked or altered.
2. Policy Enforcement: DMARC ties the SPF and DKIM protocols with a consistent set of policies. It allows the domain owner to indicate that their emails are protected by SPF and/or DKIM, and tells the receiving email servers what to do if neither of those authentication methods passes—such as rejecting the message or putting it into spam.
Setting Up DMARC
1. Publish a DMARC Record: To use DMARC, a domain owner publishes a DMARC record in their DNS (Domain Name System) record. This DMARC record contains the policy which defines how the domain's emails should be handled.
2. Policy Levels: The policy can be set at different levels, such as:
- None: This level is used for monitoring and doesn't affect the delivery of emails.
- Quarantine: Suspicious emails are placed into the spam folder.
- Reject: Completely blocks the delivery of emails that fail DMARC authentication.
Benefits of DMARC
1. Reduces Email Fraud: DMARC significantly reduces the chances of your domain being used for email scams.
2. Improves Email Deliverability: Legitimate emails are less likely to be marked as spam if your domain uses DMARC.
3. Visibility and Reporting: DMARC provides reports that give insights into who is sending emails on behalf of your domain, which can be used to identify and stop unauthorised email practices.
Conclusion
DMARC is an essential tool for enhancing email security. By verifying that the sender of an email is legitimate, it helps protect against fraud and improves the reliability of email communication. For businesses, implementing DMARC is a crucial step in safeguarding their email communications and maintaining their reputation.
If you have any further questions or would like to speak to our team to find out more about how our solutions can help keep you, your customers and their business’ safe, please get in touch: info@dynarisk.com