Strengthen your email security with DMARC, SPF, and DKIM
Rajeev Mamidanna
Helping CISOs with Employee Awareness, Asset Discovery, Security Risk Ratings, Email Protection, Browser Security & Addressing Security Incidents faster. Bonus: Helping CISOs & CxOs build Authority on LinkedIn
With spoofing and phishing rising in an exponential way, CISOs must enforce the adoption of DMARC, SPF and DKIM as a necessity, not as a tick mark activity.
So, what are DMARC, SPF and DKIM?
- DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance): DMARC is an email authentication protocol that enables organizations to protect their domains from email spoofing and phishing attacks by allowing senders to specify policies for email validation.
- SPF (Sender Policy Framework): SPF is an email authentication protocol that allows domain owners to specify which IP addresses are authorized to send emails on behalf of their domain. It helps prevent email spoofing and phishing attacks by validating the sender's IP address.
- DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail): DKIM is an email authentication method that allows senders to digitally sign their emails with a private key, which can be verified by the recipient's email server using a public key published in the sender's DNS records. It helps ensure the integrity and authenticity of email messages.
Why is DMARC important?
- DMARC helps organizations protect their brand reputation and domain integrity
- provides visibility into email authentication results
- allows CISOs to specify policies for handling unauthorized emails
- enables senders to monitor & enforce email authentication practices
- reduces the risk of phishing attacks and email fraud
Why is SPF important?
- helps prevent email spoofing and phishing attacks by verifying the sender's IP address against the list of authorized IP addresses specified in the domain's SPF records
- ensures that only legitimate senders can send emails on behalf of the domain, reducing the likelihood of email-based threats
Why is DKIM important?
- helps ensure the integrity and authenticity of email messages
- allows senders to digitally sign their emails with a private key
- enables recipients to verify the sender's identity and detect any modifications to the email content during transit
- reduces the risk of email tampering & spoofing
How does email authentication and inbox delivery happen:
When an email is sent, it undergoes authentication checks based on DMARC, SPF, and DKIM protocols.
- DMARC: DMARC policies specify how receivers should handle emails that fail SPF and DKIM checks. If DMARC is implemented and configured, it helps receivers determine the fate of incoming emails based on the results of SPF and DKIM checks.
- SPF: SPF verifies the IP address of the sending server against the list of authorized IP addresses specified in the sender's SPF records. If the sending server's IP address matches the authorized list, SPF authentication passes.
领英推荐
- DKIM: DKIM verifies the digital signature attached to the email message using the public key published in the sender's DNS records. If the signature is valid and matches the content of the email, DKIM authentication passes.
The combination of DMARC, SPF, and DKIM helps receivers assess the authenticity and legitimacy of incoming emails.
(Please note: exact requirements for an email to land in the recipient's inbox may vary depending on the receiver's email security policies and the configuration of DMARC, SPF, and DKIM records).
In general, if any two of the authentication mechanisms (DMARC, SPF, or DKIM) pass successfully, the email has a higher likelihood of being delivered to the recipient's inbox. However, if all three authentication mechanisms fail or if the DMARC policy is set to reject or quarantine, the email may be flagged as suspicious and either bounced back or redirected to the recipient's spam or junk folder. It's important for organizations to configure DMARC, SPF, and DKIM records effectively to ensure that legitimate emails reach their intended recipients while mitigating the risk of spam, phishing, and other email-based threats.
In staying with email security as their main goal, both Google and Microsoft have advised organizations to not only deploy these 3, but also subscribe to 3rd party managed DMARC. In a sense, both of them stress on the need for continuous access to reports and intelligence to ensure that your email security journey is smooth and with least amount of false positives.
Google:
Microsoft:
That you must implement these DMARC, SPF and DKIM is not a question anymore. It is a question of how soon! But as a CISO, you need to decide if you want to do everything on your own or assign a DMARC partner whose bread and butter is DMARC and who can do a better job than you in terms of proactive prevention; and not just monitoring.
Advantages of Managed DAMRC:
- incident response: capabilities by providing real-time monitoring and proactive threat detection to swiftly address email security incidents
- comprehensive analysis: Identifying legitimate sources and potential threats for informed decisions
- actionable insights: Valuable intelligence for strategic cybersecurity measures
- smooth transition to 'Reject' mode: Managed services ensure a disruption-free shift for enhanced security
- compliance-based reporting: Managed DMARC lets you define reports as per your need, at the same time giving you intel that will improve your email domain posture
I will vote for Managed DMARC any day!
If you liked this article, you will also like my other article about transitioning to DMARC "Reject" mode in a more effective manner.
Follow me here: https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/jeeves/
#dmarc #emailsecurity #cybersecurity
Helping founders position themselves as the only solution with clear messaging & purpose-driven content.
9 个月I lost a few brain cells setting up this for myself hehe??