Using DMARC to Improve Email Deliverability and Domain Reputation
Tags: dmarc, dmarcrecord
Published: 2021-09-16 08:41:15

DMARC: A Brief Introduction
DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance) is an email authentication standard that determines the authentication status of an email by combining SPF and DKIM records. While providing visibility of the sources sending emails from your domain, DMARC ensures better deliverability and guarantees top-notch security against spoofing, phishing, impersonation, malware, and other cyberattacks.
Essentially, DMARC has the following missions:
● Publish policies set by domain owners on the handling of emails that pass the authentication check.
● Allow recipient servers of a mail to send authentication reports back to the sending server so the latter can take measures to improve their authentication monitoring infrastructure.
● Develop a formal standard that can be followed by all organizations, businesses, companies, and their subsequent clients and customers.
If fraudsters or any malicious activities are detected, DMARC tells the receiver’s server to quarantine or reject the email communication based on the policies set in place by the domain owners or administrators. An investigation can then be conducted to restore the users’ confidence in their inbox and the organization.
Understanding the working of DMARC in four simple steps:
● The domain admin configures the email authentication policies and the actions that must be taken by the receiving mail servers when handling emails that fail the authentication check. This DMARC policy then becomes part of the domain’s overall DNS records.
● The mail server at the receiving end of an incoming email uses DNS to look up the DMARC policy for the domain included in the message’s ‘From’ header. The inbound server then assesses the message for DKIM signature validation, SPF record, the message's source, and its domain alignment.
● The recipient server then applies the sending domain’s DMARC policy to determine whether to accept, reject, or flag the email. ● After determining what action must be taken based on the published DMARC policy, the receiving mail server then reports the result to the sending domain owner.
How Does DMARC Improve Email Deliverability?
DMARC provides useful insight into an organization’s email sending habits. It improves domain visibility since the domain owner receives feedback in the form of DMARC reports containing information on the IP addresses used to send emails, the frequency of emails, unsent emails, etc. These reports allow organizations to track emails back to their original senders while the authentication results help detect failures and solve arising issues. This leads to an efficient communication channel both internally and externally.
How Does DMARC Improve Domain Reputation?
Implementing DMARC improves the security rating of your domain. Emails sent from domains that have a DMARC policy published in its DNS are secure and trustworthy. A client or consumer is less likely to be phished when a domain has DMARC deployed. This increases brand reputation among customers and clients.
Apart from improving email deliverability and domain reputation, DMARC has the following benefits:
● Using a DMARC record Secures your brand image by forestalling unauthenticated parties from sending messages using your domain.
● DMARC helps build a steady strategy for managing messages that fail the authentication check. This makes email systems safer and more dependable.
● DMARC allows you to use the same modern tools and techniques that large companies use to deliver and secure their emails.
Original Source: https://www.idg.com.au/mediareleases/204789/using-dmarc-to-improve-email-deliverability-and/