--- title: "What You Need to Know About How COVID-19 has Impacted Email Hosting | DuoCircle" description: "It’s difficult to try and quantify how COVID-19 has impacted business." image: "https://www.duocircle.com/images/og-default.png" canonical: "https://www.duocircle.com/blog/email-hosting/what-you-need-to-know-about-how-covid-19-has-impacted-email-hosting/" --- Quick Answer COVID-19 drove a measurable surge in email hosting demand. Technavio's Global Email Hosting Services Market 2020-2024 report projected $25.70 billion in market growth over the period, attributed largely to remote work shifting in-person communication onto email. The pandemic also drove a wave of attacks: phishing and BEC volumes rose sharply as attackers exploited COVID-19 themes. The Messaging, Malware, and Mobile Anti-Abuse Working Group (M3AAWG) responded by urging hosts to publish SPF with at least \~all (-all if non-sending), sign all mail with aligned DKIM, and publish DMARC at p=quarantine or p=reject across organizational domains and subdomains. The lasting impact: authentication moved from best-practice to baseline expectation. Share [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=undefined%2Fblog%2Femail-hosting%2Fwhat-you-need-to-know-about-how-covid-19-has-impacted-email-hosting%2F "Share on LinkedIn") [ ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=What%20You%20Need%20to%20Know%20About%20How%20COVID-19%20has%20Impacted%20Email%20Hosting&url=undefined%2Fblog%2Femail-hosting%2Fwhat-you-need-to-know-about-how-covid-19-has-impacted-email-hosting%2F "Share on X/Twitter") [ ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=undefined%2Fblog%2Femail-hosting%2Fwhat-you-need-to-know-about-how-covid-19-has-impacted-email-hosting%2F "Share on Facebook") [ ](https://reddit.com/submit?url=undefined%2Fblog%2Femail-hosting%2Fwhat-you-need-to-know-about-how-covid-19-has-impacted-email-hosting%2F&title=What%20You%20Need%20to%20Know%20About%20How%20COVID-19%20has%20Impacted%20Email%20Hosting "Share on Reddit") [ ](mailto:?subject=What%20You%20Need%20to%20Know%20About%20How%20COVID-19%20has%20Impacted%20Email%20Hosting&body=Check out this article: undefined%2Fblog%2Femail-hosting%2Fwhat-you-need-to-know-about-how-covid-19-has-impacted-email-hosting%2F "Share via Email") ![Email Hosting](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2020/06/spf-validator-5317.jpg) _It’s difficult to try and quantify how COVID-19 has impacted business_. New ways of doing business, like work from home (WFH), have emerged to affect every aspect of daily business life. COVID-19 and WFH combined have had a ripple effect on other aspects of business like bring-you-own-device (BYOD) and the adoption of **cloud services** as a standard part of business. And through all these recent changes, one thing is clear: _people still use email predominantly to communicate with each other_. [![SMTP hosting](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2020/06/spf-record-generator-3479.jpg)](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2020/06/spf-record-generator-3479.jpg) What makes email usage possible is email hosting, or [SMTP hosting](/email/hosted-email). COVID-19 will have a major impact on that too. According to [research](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200618005813/en/) conducted by Technavio titled _Global Email Hosting Services Market 2020-2024_, “the global email hosting services market is _expected to **grow by USD 25.70 billion** during 2020-2024._” And some of that growth is directly attributable to COVID-19. From the research, “_The outbreak of COVID-19 globally is expected to have a positive impact on the growth of the email hosting services market during the forecast period_. The demand for **email hosting services** will further increase due to the extension of lockdown and containment efforts across the world.” _More lockdown means more email. Co-workers who you used to be able to talk to in person at the office, now require email to communicate with_. But the quantity of email isn’t COVID-19s only impact to **SMTP hosting**. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that as the world has responded to COVID-19, so too have hackers. At every turn, bad actors have looked to the changes resulting from COVID-19 to launch attacks and exploits. And SMTP hosting has not escaped unscathed. In response to the increased attacks, the Messaging, Malware, & Mobile Abuse Working Group (M3AAWG), an industry group aligned to defeat malware, spam and viruses, has [asked](https://www.m3aawg.org/blog/m3aawg-statement-on-email-authentication-for-covid-19-mailings) the email hosting industry “_to take further steps to **authenticate and secure** their sending domains and email addresses by deploying email authentication at scale and at enforcement_.” The M3AAWG strongly encourages email hosts to adhere to the following **email authentication parameters** when publishing and signing their various records: - Publishing SPF records with at least \~all, or -all if the domain does not send email - Signing all mail with aligned DKIM - Publishing [DMARC policies](https://dmarc.org/) for organizational domains, even non-sending ones, at enforcement: using at least p=quarantine, although p=reject is preferable, across the entire domain and all subdomains without exception The result of COVID-19 is clear: more email, more attacks, more protection. If you’re moving to [hosted SMTP](/email/hosted-email), or you need to change to a hosting provider that can meet the authentication demands of COVID-19, you need to know about DuoCircle. [![Outbound SMTP](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2020/06/spf-permerror-2479.jpg)](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2020/06/spf-permerror-2479.jpg) _DuoCircle delivers reliable [Outbound SMTP](/email/outbound-smtp) you can trust_. DuoCircle uses SPF, DKIM and DMARC, per M3AAWG guidelines, to automate the signing of your outbound email and ensure the emails reach the inbox every time. _DuoCircle has email servers worldwide in major geographic zones including USA and Europe_. DuoCircle comes with **exclusive outbreak protection**. If your computer ever becomes compromised, [DuoCircle](/) helps you preserve your IP reputation. _Try DuoCircle risk **free for 30 days**. It sets up in minutes and comes with the best 24/7 customer support around._ ![Brad Slavin](https://media.mailhop.org/dmarcreport/images/team/brad-slavin.jpg) Brad Slavin General Manager General Manager at DuoCircle. Product strategy and commercial lead across the email security portfolio. ## Secure your email infrastructure Protect, authenticate, and deliver. Contact our team to find the right solution. [Contact Sales](/contact/) [Explore Products](/products/) Share this article [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.duocircle.com%2Fblog%2Femail-hosting%2Fwhat-you-need-to-know-about-how-covid-19-has-impacted-email-hosting%2F) [ ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=What%20You%20Need%20to%20Know%20About%20How%20COVID-19%20has%20Impacted%20Email%20Hosting&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.duocircle.com%2Fblog%2Femail-hosting%2Fwhat-you-need-to-know-about-how-covid-19-has-impacted-email-hosting%2F) [ ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.duocircle.com%2Fblog%2Femail-hosting%2Fwhat-you-need-to-know-about-how-covid-19-has-impacted-email-hosting%2F) Copy Related Articles - [ ![setting up a self-hosted mail server](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2026/03/spf-flatterning-5911.jpg) 10 Steps To Set Up A Self-Hosted Mail Server Without Hitting Spam Blog ](/blog/email-hosting/10-steps-set-up-self-hosted-mail-server-avoid-spam/) - [ ![Moving Mail to the Cloud](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2016/04/spf-record-checker-4741.jpg) The 9 Ways You Benefit from Moving Mail to the Cloud Blog ](/blog/email-hosting/9-ways-benefit-moving-mail-cloud/) - [ Amazon Order Confirmation Trojan Blog ](/blog/email-hosting/amazon-order-confirmation-trojan/) - [ ![Zero-day Vulnerability](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2021/12/smtp-relay-7593.jpg) Apache Log4j Zero-day Vulnerability: How to Detect it & Precautions You Need to Take Blog ](/blog/email-hosting/apache-log4j-zero-day-vulnerability-how-to-detect-it-precautions-you-need-to-take/) ## Related Articles [ Email Hosting 18m 10 Steps To Set Up A Self-Hosted Mail Server Without Hitting Spam Mar 10, 2026 ](/blog/email-hosting/10-steps-set-up-self-hosted-mail-server-avoid-spam/)[ Email Hosting 5m The 9 Ways You Benefit from Moving Mail to the Cloud Apr 13, 2016 ](/blog/email-hosting/9-ways-benefit-moving-mail-cloud/)[ Email Hosting 1m Amazon Order Confirmation Trojan Feb 16, 2019 ](/blog/email-hosting/amazon-order-confirmation-trojan/)[ Email Hosting 6m Apache Log4j Zero-day Vulnerability: How to Detect it & Precautions You Need to Take Dec 24, 2021 ](/blog/email-hosting/apache-log4j-zero-day-vulnerability-how-to-detect-it-precautions-you-need-to-take/) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Organization","name":"DuoCircle LLC","url":"https://www.duocircle.com","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.duocircle.com/images/duocircle-logo.png"},"description":"DuoCircle is a portfolio of specialized email products covering protection, authentication, delivery, and routing. 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