DMARC, abbreviated for “Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance”, is an email validation and authentication protocol. It is built on widely deployed SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) security protocols, and further adds a reporting feature that lets senders and receivers improve and monitor the protection of the email domain from phishing emails, enabling safe email communication possible.
The spammers often forge the ‘From addresses’ in the emails received, and somehow make it look like they came from a legitimate email domain. To prevent such misuse of your email domain and to allow other receiving domains to understand your outgoing domain policies, you can publish a DMARC record, using this will allow DMARC-enabled email services to handle emails from unauthenticated domains. This will further support monitoring spam or phishing activities using your email domain and contributes to protecting your brand reputation associated with your domain.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
What is a DMARC Policy?
A DMARC policy allows an email sender to specify that their email domain is protected by SPF and/or DKIM, and instructs the receiving domain regarding the action, like Quarantine or reject if the email fails SPF and DKIM checks. DMARC also assists the receiving email domain to handle the failed emails in a better way, which further restricts the end receiver’s vulnerability to such spam emails using the email domain.
DMARC also allows the email receiver to report back to the email sender about the emails that fail and/or pass DMARC policy checks. The DMARC policies are effective, only when all the emails are sent using their own domains, instead of sent via third-party services. In order to authorize third-party services to send authenticated emails, you need to share the DKIM key to be included in the email headers, or use SMTP servers to send emails that already have the authorized DKIM keys and SPF records published.
Before publishing your DMARC policies, you need to configure DKIM keys and SPF records for your email domain. To ensure email authentication, the DMARC policy is triggered when an email sent using your domain, fails the DKIM check and/or SPF check.
Prior to publishing your DMARC policy, you need to create a text record in your DNS in the given below format
Text record Name:
_dmarc.emaildomain.com wherein emaildomain.com is to be replaced with your email domain name.
When you are done, the DMARC record in your DNS will look something similar to the given below record
“v=DMARC1; p=reject; rua=mailto:[email protected]”
You can also generate your own custom DMARC record with our DMARC Record Generator.
The three tags are: v, p, & Rua, and the three values are DMARC1, none, and mailto. The “v” tag signifies the version of DMARC, the “p” tag specifies the DMARC policy (meaning what action to take if the email fails the DMARC check), and the “rua” tag is the email address on which DMARC reports will be sent to.
What is DMARC Policy Type?
The 3 DMARC policies are: “none”, “quarantine”, and “reject”.
- None: The “none” policy, also referred to as the “monitor-only” policy, takes no action if an email fails DMARC checks.
- Quarantine: The “quarantine” policy moves apprehensive emails to a different folder, such as a spam folder instead of an inbox.
- Reject: The ‘reject” policy rejects all emails that fail DMARC checks.
Policy Rollout Stages
We recommend setting up the DMARC policy in 3 phases.
Phase 1: Monitor DMARC Aggregate reports
In this phase, you need to monitor and analyze DMARC reports, the source of the emails that appear to be spoofed, and commonalities in spoofed emails. After reviewing, if you find the reports with only valid emails, you can move to Phase 2.
Phase 2: Analyzing Quarantined Emails
This phase will put emails that fail DMARC check in a different folder, such as spam. You can monitor these quarantined emails and further accept or reject them. After analyzing, if you are sure that all valid emails are signed and spoofed emails are rejected, you can move to the final phase.
Phase 3: Reject unauthorized emails
This phase will reject all unauthorized emails using your domain name. You can further analyze rejected emails via the reports on the email provided in the text record.
Conclusion
DMARC allows domain owners to monitor and validate the authentication of their emails. By adopting DMARC, they can assure email receivers about the authentication and legitimacy of the emails sent from their domain. Implementing DMARC and analyzing DMARC records is crucial to protect your email domain from phishing activities.
In an era of advanced technologies, where consumers are favoring secure digital communication with brands, it is of utmost importance for companies to adopt cybersecurity protocols.
GoDMARC is your one-stop solution to protect your email domain from phishing activities. You can opt to secure your data from email spoofers and imposters, with help of our reasonable DMARC price plans.
Get in touch with your cybersecurity expert for more queries and GoDMARC plans!
FAQ’s
Q1. Why is DMARC crucial for a business?
DMARC allows domain owners to monitor and validate the authentication of their emails. By adopting DMARC, they can assure email receivers about the authentication and legitimacy of the emails sent from their domain. Implementing DMARC and analyzing DMARC records is crucial to protect your email domain from phishing activities.
Q2. What is a DMARC Policy?
A DMARC policy allows an email sender to specify that their email domain is protected by SPF and/or DKIM, and instructs the receiving domain regarding the action, like Quarantine or reject if the email fails SPF and DKIM checks.
Q3. What are 3 DMARC Policies?
The 3 DMARC policies are: “none”, “quarantine”, and “reject”.
