Email marketing is a flourishing industry. As a result, it’s vital to know everything there is to know about DMARC reporting in order to ensure that your emails reach your customers. Domain-Based Message Authentication (DMARC) is a strong tool for protecting your brand from phishing and spoofing attacks.
But how does one go about setting up DMARC? How should DMARC reports be analyzed? How will DMARC affect your email deliverability?
In 2022, our DMARC tutorial will teach you all you need to know about DMARC reporting, including:
- DMARC (Domain-Based Message Authentication)
- DMARC Email Report
- Is DMARC important?
- How does DMARC work?
- DMARC and email deliverability?
What is DMARC
DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication Reporting and Conformance) is an email validation system that assists in preventing your email domain from being used to send phishing emails, scams, and other spam.
It is based on two current email authentication methods: SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail). DMARC strengthens email authentication provided by SPF and DKIM and provides the most secure method of email domain protection.
Another advantage of DMARC is reporting. You will receive information on all the sources that are sending emails on behalf of your domain when you register a DMARC entry in your domain DNS. DMARC information is provided in the form of these feedback reports issued by businesses that handle incoming emails. By studying these reports, you can identify all your email streams, detect unlawful sources, and ensure that all legal sources pass email authentication tests.
DMARC Email Report
DMARC reporting is a mechanism that allows companies to obtain aggregate information on email delivery. DMARC gives insight into external sources, such as ESPs and ISPs, allowing for increased security in email delivery. There are three types of DMARC reports: failure messages, success messages, and SPF or DKIM authentication findings.
When an email fails SPF or DKIM, a failure notice is issued. This will comprise the original message headers, extra DMARC header information, and a list of IDs that failed the authentication check. Success messages give aggregate statistics on emails that have been confirmed with SPF or DKIM. They provide information on how your domain is being utilized for email sending by disclosing any illegal email sources.
Finally, authentication results show which policies successfully authenticated against each identifier inside the policy’s scope throughout the reporting period. All reports include useful information to assist you in improving security protocols related to email deliverability.
Is DMARC Important?
Malicious emails account for more than 70% of all worldwide communications. Since 2013, phishing attacks have cost firms around $1.6 billion in damages. DMARC is an email authentication system designed to help businesses standardize how they communicate with their customers. It was developed by a collaboration of security professionals and email providers to combat spoofing.
When properly deployed, DMARC ensures that all communications sent from your organization’s domain are valid. This prevents impersonators from impersonating your corporate domain to get access to information or bank accounts belonging to you or one of your workers.
In 2022, it will be even more crucial as hackers try to impersonate the same IP address used in legitimate business dealings between two organizations to make their scam emails appear authentic. Because many people assume that emails from a colleague’s or company’s official email account are authentic, they may easily fall for these scams without noticing warning signs such as incorrect grammar or spelling. Because this high-risk behavior occurs on a daily basis, it is vital that enterprises utilize DMARC compliance requirements to protect themselves against fraudsters.
How does DMARC work?
DMARC is reliant on your existing SPF and DKIM. All three components work together to authenticate and process your email communications. DMARC is likewise built on the well-established Domain Name System (DNS).
A sender’s DMARC record essentially informs a receiver of the step required. (e.g., do nothing, quarantine the message, or reject it).
The first step toward determining the email health of your protected domain is DMARC reporting. It identifies unlawful communications that pass SPF/DKIM validation but fail DMARC authorization checks and offers visibility into which sources are transmitting with faked domains. These reports may be seen in aggregate or by individual senders via a user-friendly web dashboard. There are various well-known DMARC services, such as our DMARC Record Checker which lets you check your DMARC record for free!
DMARC and Email Deliverability
DMARC is much more than email security. It’s also a matter of improving email deliverability. DMARC instructs ISPs (such as Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, and Outlook) on how to handle emails based on their degree of authentication or spam score. In other words, it assists you in optimizing your inbox placement so that valid email reaches its intended destination rather than being flagged as spam by ISP filters.
You can improve your email deliverability by:
- Publishing a new DMARC record.
- Use your DMARC reporting results to improve your organizations’ authentication results.
- Enforcing a strict DMARC policy.
By ensuring that only approved emails are sent from your domain, setting up a DMARC Record with a reject policy helps protect your domain from spoofing. This will help you maintain a positive domain reputation and sender score, resulting in better email delivery. Another advantage of installing DMARC with a reject policy is the ability to deploy BIMI, an additional layer of email authentication that displays your logo in your clients’ and other stakeholders’ inboxes. BIMI distinguishes your email from the throng.
If you wish to prevent your emails from being marked as spam, you must deploy SPF, DKIM, and DMARC as quickly as feasible. And who better to guide you through that than EmailAuth? The EmailAuth platform helps you automate your DMARC record and other email authentication needs. It has a host of services such as the FREE DMARC record generator, SPF record checker, DMARC record creator, and more Try EmailAuth today!