Protecting Your Business: Common DMARC Misconfigurations and How to Avoid Them

Understanding DMARC

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) is a security protocol that verifies the authenticity of emails sent by your organization. It provides guidelines to email receivers and delivers feedback to the sender on the treatment of emails. DMARC protects businesses against email fraud, phishing, and email spoofing. DMARC helps senders maintain a secure email ecosystem, and it protects recipients from malicious emails.

Misconfiguration 1: No DMARC Policy in Place

If no DMARC policy is set, it means the email authentication process is left open to interpretation. This can result in spoofed messages that deliver malware, botnet attacks, and unauthorized access. DMARC provides protection to your brand by rejecting or quarantining any attempt to use your domain to send bogus emails. Gain more knowledge about the subject using this recommended external resource. dmarc record https://www.tangent.com/solutions/security-compliance/dmarc, additional information and new perspectives on the topic we’ve covered in this article.

Fix:

Create a DMARC record and publish it in your DNS configuration.

Ensure that your DMARC record is properly configured to send out XML reports daily. This will help you better understand the status of your email.

Always use a DMARC policy of “hard-fail” to ensure that any unauthorized emails sent are not delivered.

Misconfiguration 2: Sending Policy Set to None or Quarantine

DMARC gives you options like “none,” “quarantine” or “reject.” Choosing “none” means external entities can freely use your domain to send emails, and you don’t receive any reports. Choosing “quarantine” will send impostor emails to the spam folder on the receiver’s mailbox. However, choosing “reject” is the most recommended option because you can choose to block bad actors from your domain completely.

Fix:

Change the sending policy to “reject” to block spoofed emails completely.

Test your policy before making the switch to avoid accidental email delivery problems.

Work with your email system provider to determine the best and safest policy for your company.

Misconfiguration 3: Invalid SPF record

Sending email using a forged email address is prevalent, and it is effortless to do. This means that attackers can send emails with the forged email address from your domain. An SPF record helps verify that emails sent from your domain come from the approved sending servers to prevent forged email senders. An invalid SPF record can lead to emails being rejected or delivered to spam folders.

Fix:

Create a valid SPF record.

Ensure that your DNS records reflect the updated SPF record.

Regularly review your SPF records to ensure that they are up-to-date.

Misconfiguration 4: Lack of Understanding of DMARC Reports

DMARC reports offer valuable insights into your email ecosystem and are essential in ensuring that your email authentication is accurate. DMARC reports gives feedback on failed or passing SPF and DKIM evaluations. It provides details on message volume, delivery rates, unauthenticated IP addresses sending emails originating from your domain, and external domains forwarding your emails.

Fix:

Make sure that your DMARC reports are working fine and are set to be generated and delivered to you.

Regularly review DMARC reports In real-time.

Ensure that you understand how DMARC reports work and what the data in them signifies.

Misconfiguration 5: Inaccurate Implementation of DKIM

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) is an email authentication method that uses digital signatures to ensure that emails are not tampered with while in transit. DKIM adds a digital signature to messages for the receiver to verify that the email is from an authorized sender.

Fix:

Ensure that your DKIM settings are correct.

Make sure that your DKIM signature is added to all messages sent from your domain.

Review and test your DKIM setup regularly.

In conclusion

DMARC is an essential email authentication protocol that allows organizations to protect their brand and customers from email fraud, phishing scams, and email spoofing. To ensure that your DMARC is correctly configured, set up a DMARC policy, choose the authentication mechanism that works best for you, review your SPF, DKIM settings, and always keep track of your DMARC reports regularly. The safety of your email ecosystem depends on your knowledge and vigilance. Want to know more about the topic discussed in this article? dmarc check https://www.tangent.com/solutions/security-compliance/dmarc, filled with useful supplementary details to enhance your reading.

Wish to expand your knowledge? Visit the related posts we’ve set aside for you:

Discover this insightful content

Read this helpful content

Understand this subject better