---
title: "Phishing Protection: Why Are so Few Using DMARC? | DuoCircle"
description: "What if there existed a technology that could dramatically lower the chances of your domains being spoofed and used for phishing attacks on recipients."
image: "https://www.duocircle.com/images/og-default.png"
canonical: "https://www.duocircle.com/blog/phishing-protection/phishing-protection-why-are-so-few-using-dmarc/"
---

Quick Answer

DMARC adoption is low despite being the only widely deployed standard that makes the visible From address trustworthy. The 2019 250ok Global DMARC Adoption report found nearly 80% of websites had no DMARC policy, and only 23% of Fortune 500 companies had any DMARC record at all. Most 2020 US presidential campaigns also lacked proper DMARC, exposing donors and voters to fraud. Two explanations: organizations either do not understand DMARC or do not care, since DMARC primarily protects the recipients of email sent from the protected domain, not the sender directly. The deployment stack is SPF plus DKIM plus DMARC. Implementation removes a major attack vector for business email compromise and brand impersonation.

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![Phishing Protection](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2019/07/spf-record-7788.jpg) 

What if there existed a technology that could dramatically lower the chances of your domains being spoofed and used for **phishing attacks** on recipients. Would you take advantage of it? Probably not, because the technology does exist and almost nobody is using it. And the reasons why are confounding.

The technology is called [DMARC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DMARC), which stands for **_Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance_**. “It is designed to give email domain owners the ability to protect their domain from unauthorized use, commonly known as email spoofing. _The purpose and primary outcome of implementing DMARC is to protect a domain from being used in business email compromise attacks_, phishing emails, email scams and other cyber threat activities.”

[Why does DMARC matter](https://blog.returnpath.com/how-to-explain-dmarc-in-plain-english/)? “DMARC is the first and only widely deployed technology that can make the ‘header from’ address (what users see in their email clients) trustworthy. Not only does this help protect customers and the brand, it discourages cybercriminals who are less likely to go after a brand with a DMARC record.”

[![cybercriminals](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2019/07/spf-record-check-7788.jpg)](/phishing-protection/phishing-protection-why-are-so-few-using-dmarc/attachment/spf-record-check-7788)

According to an [article](https://www.techrepublic.com/article/phishing-alert-80-of-companies-lack-dmarc-policies-to-protect-against-spoofing/) on TechRepublic, “nearly 80% of websites have no DMARC policy in place, increasing the odds that their domain will be spoofed and used for phishing attacks on customers, according to 250ok’s [Global DMARC Adoption 2019](https://s3.amazonaws.com/250ok-wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/09140509/Global-DMARC-Adoption-2019.pdf) report.”

“DMARC is considered the industry standard for email authentication to prevent attacks in which hackers send malicious emails via counterfeit web addresses, the report said.”

How widespread is the problem? “_Only 23% of companies in the Fortune 500 have some form of DMARC policy despite being the largest US companies by revenue._”

To make matters worse, [most 2020 Presidential campaigns are not using it](https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/most-2020-presidential-campaign-not-using-proper-email-security/). “\[M\]ost of the political campaigns of current major party candidates for next year’s U.S. presidential elections are failing to implement proper Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance (DMARC) policies to protect their donors and voters from phishing attacks that could lead to fraud.”

[![phishing attacks](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2019/07/sender-policy-framework-7788.jpg)](/phishing-protection/phishing-protection-why-are-so-few-using-dmarc/attachment/sender-policy-framework-7788)

There are really only two possible explanations for the low adoption rate of DMARC. Either organizations don’t understand DMARC or they don’t care.

“_Given the information available on the risks associated with leaving your domain unprotected_, it’s shocking the number of brands that still don’t understand the importance of DMARC,” said Matthew Vernhout, director of privacy at 250ok.

The other possibility is that they don’t care. The reason why is because DMARC isn’t really used to protect you, it’s used to protect others. And maybe that’s the reason. Implementing DMARC means being a good neighbour, and perhaps that isn’t sufficient motivation, but it should be.

When you’re ready to be a good neighbour and implement advanced [phishing protection](/email/phishing-protection) technology like [SPF](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sender%5FPolicy%5FFramework), [DKIM](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DomainKeys%5FIdentified%5FMail) and DMARC, get our true real-time [phishing prevention](/). Try it risk-free for 30 days.

![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.

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