What is a DMARC Record?
What is A DMARC Record? Know the components of a DMARC record and it’s importance Get a Quote Download Datasheet Email Security > DMARC What is a DMARC Record? In today’s digital landscape, implementing DMARC records to tackle the rising threat of cyberattacks is of utmost importance. These attacks jeopardise sensitive information and put entities interacting with your company at risk. However, you can eradicate this risk by implementing the DMARC record. These records act as robust shields, instructing recipient servers on handling emails that fail authentication checks. By quarantining or rejecting suspicious emails, it provides a much-needed layer of defence. By Cian Fitzpatrick | 16th November, 2023 What is the Purpose of a DMARC Record? A DMARC record has two main purposes. They are: Instruct the recipient server It guides the recipient server on what to do if the email fails authentication checks like: Reject the message Quarantine the message Allow the message to continue the delivery 2. Send the reports Reports are sent to the email address mentioned in the DMARC record about all email activities associated with the domain. What does a DMARC Record Look Like? Creating a DMARC record ensures servers can distinguish between legitimate and fake emails. As a result, it protects against various security threats, such as phishing, spoofing, and spamming. Before getting started, we need to learn about DMARC TXT Record tags. Tags Meaning V It represents the protocol version. For example, v=DMARC1 pct It is the percentage of messages subjected to filtering. It ranges from 0 to 100. ruf It indicates the reporting URL for forensic reports. rua It indicates the reporting URL for aggregate reports p It is the policy for the organisational domain. It includes three types of policy. “p=none”“p=quarantine” “p=reject” sp Policy for a subdomain of the organisational domain. adkim Alignment mode for DKIM. aspf Alignment mode for SPF fo Get email samples for messages that fail SPF and DKIM. You can choose four values; “0” if SPF and DKIM fail (Default) “1” if SPF or DKIM fails “d” DKIM failure “S” SPF failure Try our 7 day free DMARC trial now Sign Up Now What DMARC Record Looks Like? Typically, DMARC records consist of plain text, a list of DMARC tags segregated by semicolons. It consists of atleast three components, but you can add other optional tags as per need. It’s necessary to place “v” and “p” tags at the beginning; other tags can follow any order. To get in-depth insight, let’s break down the example of a DMARC record and learn it piece by piece. “v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc@yourdomain.com” We have three mandatory tags, v, p and rua, with the values DMARC1, none and mailto:dmarc@yourdomain.com. The v tag indicates the version of DMARC. The p tag is the policy that indicates what action the receiver should take if the message fails the authentication checks. The rua tag sends aggregate reports to a specified email. The prefix mailto: should be added before writing an email address. Based on specific requirements or needs, you can use other tags like pct, ruf, fo, etc. DMARC Policy: If your message fails the authentication check, you can specify what actions to take in the policy(p) tag. There are 3 types of policy you can choose from: Monitoring Policy (“p=none“) This policy doesn’t give any protection. But emails are constantly monitored. Generally, during the initial implementation process of DMARC, emails are monitored. Gradually, it is upgraded to quarantine and finally reaches the reject stage. Quarantine Policy(“p=quarantine”) It places emails that fail authentication checks in the spam or quarantine folder. Reject policy (“p=reject“) It immediately rejects emails that fail the authentication check. It protects against fraudulent mail by not giving a single chance to reach the recipient’s email. Why are DMARC Records Important? DMARC has grown from a mere option to the absolute necessity for email security and protection against cyber attacks such as email spoofing and phishing attacks. With the surge in technology, the threat actors have come up with new sophisticated techniques to steal company identity and deceive customers and employees. By implementing DMARC, you’re defending against constantly lurking threats. Improved Email Delivery Performance Even your legitimate emails may fail to reach the recipient server’s inbox. To amend this, you can use the DMARC record, which helps to identify and fix any authentication issues. As a result, email delivery performance is enhanced. Reduced Phishing and Spoofing Attacks It is a primary defence against cyberattacks like phishing, spoofing, and identity theft. In addition, it helps domain owners prevent unauthorised parties from sending emails on their behalf. It protects not only the company but also the customers associated with it. Enhanced Brand Protection and Reputation Building a brand doesn’t happen overnight, yet a single mistake can cause your brand to crumble like a chain of falling dominoes. Not only will your company suffer, you’ll likely lose hard-earned loyal customers. In addition to that, your reputation will take a direct hit, and sometimes, it’s impossible to build your reputation the way it was. DMARC record prevents bad actors from impersonating your brand’s domain. It ensures that your employees and customers get only legitimate emails. Furthermore, it will enhance your credibility as a brand that prioritises protecting your customers’ interests. Increased Visibility into Email Sending Behaviour The DMARC record provides ongoing data about the use of your domain, and it also aids in identifying threat actors that impersonate your domain. Moreover, the reporting mechanism of DMARC will instantly recognise if someone is misusing your domain. More Control Over How Your Domain is Used Implementing DMARC records in your domain’s DNS enables you to gather information about the entities sending emails on your behalf. DMARC record eradicates this risk and prevents your domain from being used for malicious purposes. Learn how you can be DMARC compliant Contact Us How Does a DMARC Record Work? Before publishing the DMARC record, it’s essential to implement DKIM and SPF protocols. Combining these three
