How are DMARC enforcement and DMARC reporting different?
by DuoCircle
Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) is one of the most powerful tools that security teams rely on to combat email-based attacks such as phishing, spoofing, and Business Email Compromise (BEC). Essentially, this tool enables domain owners to protect their domains from scammers by specifying how emails should be handled if they fail authentication checks. But the best part about DMARC is that it goes beyond enforcing policies to block malicious emails; it gives you insights into all that’s going on with your domain and its email traffic. We are talking about the reporting aspect of DMARC, which works hand-in-hand with enforcement to create a complete email security system.
With rapid digitization, email has become one of the most effective communication tools, both for business and corporate entities. However, the matter of concern is that the same emails are a favorite avenue for threat actors who exploit them to carry out malicious attacks, impersonate trusted brands, and spam naive users. This is where DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) steps in! This is a robust email authentication protocol that can protect your domain as well as email recipients from the prying eyes of cybercriminals.
Enforcing DMARC policies on incoming emails in Amazon WorkMail
by DuoCircle
Email domains use DNS to secure communications from eavesdroppers. They aim at preventing phishing, spoofing, ransomware, and impersonation attacks. DNS records also include a DMARC record, which is implemented and configured by the owner of the specific domain with the intention of allowing only authorized entities to send emails from that domain. A DMARC record consists of DMARC policies that instruct the receiving server on how to deal with unauthorized emails sent from your domain. By unauthorized emails, we mean outgoing emails from your domain that didn’t pass the DMARC checks.
Use cases for none, quarantine, and reject policy in DMARC
by DuoCircle
DMARC’s purpose of instructing receiving servers on how to handle unauthorized emails from your domain is achieved based on what policy you have set in your DMARC record. While p=reject is undoubtedly the strictest policy, there are conditions in which it isn’t a suitable one.
Understanding the importance of DMARC in interagency phishing guide
by DuoCircle
Phishing attacks have spread over the digital world like a plague. Not only are these attacks frequent, but they are also grave and capable of causing irreparable damage to your brand’s reputation. Not to mention the financial toll; phishing attacks cost companies an average of $4.88 million per data breach.
A guide to detecting DMARC problems using the pentesting techniques
by DuoCircle
While DMARC has proven its ability to keep spoofing and phishing attacks at a distance, DMARC records can have errors and misconfigurations. So, if you are seeing multiple instances of false positives, false negatives, delivery issues, etc., then it’s suggested that you check your DMARC record to see if it has issues. This can be done by running your DMARC TXT record through an online lookup tool. You can also come across errors and misconfigurations using penetration testing.
DMARC is based on three policies: none, quarantine, and reject. As a domain owner, you have the choice to apply one of these three policies for illegitimate emails sent from your domain. However, sometimes, receiving servers don’t respect the policy you applied; they adjust the policy according to what seems to be better for the emails sent from your domain.
Microsoft’s recent updates empower domain owners to combat modern phishing attacks using DMARC
by Duocircle
Microsoft has always encouraged domain owners to deploy DMARC to improve email deliverability and prevent spoofing. It has also been part of industry groups that aim to improve email security standards, demonstrating its endorsement of DMARC as part of the future of secure communication.
Deciphering DMARC reports is complex as it requires understanding the XML structure and key components within the report. You have to analyze the IP address and understand the failures. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how you can go about it.
Lately, DMARC adoption has been reflecting an upward trend, underscoring the increasing awareness about email security, especially after Google and Yahoo’s announcements. Roughly 20 million domains are already using DMARC, although many users are still stuck at the p=none policy, which is like moving two steps forward and one step back.
Troubleshoot DMARC problems for Google Workspace domains
by Duocircle
Google Workspace encourages domain owners to use the three email authentication protocols, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, to ensure outgoing emails are properly authenticated. This reduces the security gaps; otherwise, threat actors can exploit them to send phishing and spoofing emails from your domains. Moreover, from February 2024, Google has mandated DMARC deployment for regular and bulk email senders, urging domain owners or administrators to create a DMARC record in their DNS settings and specifying policies to handle emails that fail SPF and/or DKIM checks.
How do you receive DMARC reports on external email addresses?
by Duocircle
While most domain owners prefer receiving DMARC aggregate and forensic reports on internal email addresses, some want to have them in external inboxes. Internal email addresses refer to those belonging to the same domain for which the DMARC record is created. For example, if your organization’s domain is example.com, then an internal domain email address would be something like employee@example.com. On the other hand, external email addresses are the ones not belonging to that domain. For example, department@otherdomain.com.
What are the different phases of DMARC deployment?
by Duocircle
With sophisticated cyberattacks looming over your email landscape, you need to employ the latest techniques that not only protect your communications but also enhance the security posture, and DMARCfits the bill! Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) is an email authentication protocol that helps you do just that! It protects your domains against spoofing, phishing, and other email-based frauds.
Ever since Google and Yahoo rolled out new email-sending policies that mandate organizations that send bulk marketing emails every day to deploy DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication Reporting and Conformance), organizations across the world have been quite proactive in meeting these new standards. The wave of DMARC adoption was such that over 800,000 new DMARC records were created by March 2024. And just like the rest of the world, organizations in Ireland also jumped on this bandwagon.
Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) is a regulation by the European Union that came into force on January 17, 2023. It makes the financial institutions and entities within the finance sector more resilient towards fraud. It strengthens banks, insurance companies, investment firms, and other financial service providers to get back on their feet after major losses and disruptions.
Why are sources an important aspect of ensuring email security with DMARC?
by DuoCircle
By now, you might have heard a lot about how DMARC reports are crucial for your organization to gain insights into your email traffic and learn how your authentication protocols are waging against phishing and spoofing attempts. They reveal the harsh truth, that is, not all emails claiming to be from your domain are legitimate. While you’re decoding DMARC reports, have you ever looked into the sources of these emails?
Email authentication isn’t simply about verifying senders; it’s about protecting your organization from phishing, spoofing, and other email-based attacks and, most importantly, ensuring that your email campaigns reach their intended recipients. An email authentication protocol that ticks all of these boxes is DMARC, or Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance.
Why an email sent by a third-party vendor passed SPF/DKIM checks but failed the DMARC check?
by DuoCircle
DMARC helps prevent spoofed emails from bypassing spam filtering, but it’s just one part of a broader anti-spam strategy. Not all DMARC reports are equal; some show detailed recipient responses, while others only indicate success or failure. Understanding why a message failed is as important as knowing if it did.
DMARC, or Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance is one of the most important email authentication protocols that helps protect your email domains from phishing, spoofing, and other email-based cyber threats. Perhaps this is why it has now become a norm for organizations that send bulk emails to comply with.
