Many businesses make the mistake of relying on their consumers or staff to detect and report phishing attacks.
This technique, however, is flawed. Around the world, 90% of leading brand domains are targeted by malicious emails.
The first line of defense against email fraud should be technology that prevents malicious messages before they enter the inbox. That’s exactly what the DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication Reporting and Conformance) standard does.
Many people are confused about what DMARC is and how it prevents domain misuse, impersonation, and fraud. This can lead to major misconceptions about DMARC, how it functions, and why it’s beneficial to you. In that case, how can you be certain your DMARC implementation strategy is correct?
ProDMARC comes to your rescue! To help you understand DMARC better, we’ve compiled this list of the top 6 most common misconceptions people have about DMARC.
What are Common Misconceptions About DMARC?
1. DMARC is the same as a spam filter
This is one of the most common mistakes people make when it comes to DMARC. Incoming email that is sent to your inbox is blocked by spam filters. Suspicious emails can come from anyone’s domain, not just yours. Receiving email servers, on the other hand, are told how to manage outgoing emails sent from your domain by DMARC. Spam filters, such as Microsoft Office 365 ATP, aren’t enough to shield you from such cyberattacks. If your domain is DMARC-enforced and the email fails authentication, the receiving server rejects it.
2. Once you set up DMARC, your email is safe forever
While DMARC is one of the most advanced email authentication protocols available, it isn’t fully self-contained. You should check your DMARC files on a regular basis to ensure that emails from trusted sources are not being rejected. More specifically, you can keep an eye out for unauthorized senders who are exploiting your domain.
When you see an IP address attempting to spoof your email on a regular basis, you must act quickly to get them blacklisted or taken down.
3. DMARC will reduce my email deliverability
When configuring DMARC, make sure your policy is set to p=none. All of your emails will still be sent, but you will receive DMARC reports indicating whether or not they passed authentication. If you notice that your own emails are failing DMARC during this monitoring time, you may take steps to resolve the issue. Once all your authorized emails are getting validated correctly, you can enforce DMARC with a policy of p=quarantine or p=reject.
4. I don’t need to enforce DMARC (p=none is enough)
When you set up DMARC without implementing it (policy of p=none), all emails sent from your domain are delivered, even if they fail DMARC. You’ll receive DMARC reports, but your domain won’t be protected from spoofing attempts. It’s critical to set your policy to p=quarantine or p=reject and implement DMARC after the initial monitoring period.
5. Only big brands need DMARC
Many smaller businesses claim that DMARC security is only needed for the world’s most well-known brands. In fact, cybercriminals can launch a spoofing attack on any business domain. Since many smaller companies lack dedicated cybersecurity teams, attackers find it much easier to target small and medium-sized businesses. Remember, every organization that has a domain name needs DMARC protection!
6. DMARC Reports are easy to read
Many companies are adopting DMARC and receiving reports in their own email inboxes. The issue is that DMARC files are written in an XML file format, which can be difficult to understand if you aren’t familiar with them. ProDMARC can translate your complicated XML files into easy-to-read reports, but using a dedicated DMARC framework can not only make your setup process much simpler. Using a dedicated DMARC platform can not only make your setup process much easier, but ProDMARC can convert your complex XML files into easy-to-read reports with graphs, charts, and in-depth stats.
Conclusion
ProDMARC is a simple and secure DMARC email protection solution that is designed to address the evolving business needs of companies. By blocking phishing attempts, notifying you about them as soon as possible, and getting those false positives to zero, we provide 100 percent DMARC protection. As a result, the company’s productivity and deliverability will improve. Get Started with top-class cybersecurity solutions for your business at ProGIST.