Tag: Anti Spam

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Why Are My Emails Going To Spam, And How To Fix It?

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Are you frustrated with your emails going to spam? If the answer is yes, then you must check out this article. Here you will explore six ways that can help you to fix the problem. So, keep reading.  

If email is the main communication channel for your business, then email going to spam can make you yell at your computer. We can understand how irritating it can be to send an email, and not have the recipient open it since accessing the spam box is not a daily habit. 

Before exploring the solution to this issue, we need to identify the problems.

Why are my emails going to spam?

According to Statista, half of all emails are spam. Email is a robust platform for communication for every person. And email spam is a serious concern that we face today. Email spam is rising as a severe problem on the internet today. Almost every email service provider has implemented some controls to solve the problem of Spam.

The email filters are designed so that users don’t have to remove the spam message manually. There can be many reasons behind your email going to spam. Here is the reason behind spam issues-

1. You haven’t set up proper authentications 

One of the biggest reasons behind email going to spam is failure to comply with email sender authentication standards. There are three major email sender authentication standards namely DMARC, DKIM, and SPF. To ensure the mails are appropriately delivered in Inbox, you should ensure the email comply with the authentication standards. 

2. Your IP address was used for sending spam emails

These issues are mostly seen among businesses. If you have taken your IP address from an internet service provider, then the possibility of your IP address being used for sending spam by older users in the past may be quite high. 

3. Subject lines that can be misleading to recipients

Email providers like Gmail use spam channels to attempt to keep spam out of inboxes. One technique is to filter the email by its subject line. Assuming the spam channel sees too many spammy words, your email may be singled out as spam and get sent to the spam or junk folder.

Some of the examples of spam words are-

  • Free Gifts 
  • Click here
  • As seen on 
  • Dear friends 
  • Information you requested 
  • Save Big 
  • Cash

4. The number of inactive email addresses on your list is too many

Over the long run, a portion of the email addresses on your database may get latent. Notwithstanding, if this happens, your email list can be loaded with inert clients. In that case, your email will remain unopened in large numbers, which can cause email channels to label it as spam.

How Can You Fix Your Email Spam Problem?

Now that you know about the reason that is causing the problem let us look at how you can solve the problem. 

1. Set up proper authentications 

Recently, spam channels are putting more weight on sender notoriety instead of simply the substance of your messages. The content of your email matters; however, somebody with an authentic email address could pull off some spam-contiguous content that a sender with an inauthentic email domain standing can’t. The ideal approach to improve your credibility is to ensure you’re appropriately checking your messages with authentication tests like DKIM and SPF. In terms of authentication, applying these DMARC checks is the best way to securely validate your emails.

If you’re utilizing free email providers like Gmail, you don’t have to stress over this. This possibly applies if you’re using a custom email address. You can set up these validation tests by adding TXT records in your organization’s DNS server for the executives. You can get the DMARC record that you need from your email provider. 

2. Follow email configuration/same accepted procedures when sending messages

Once you have completed DMARC implementation, you are one step closer to avoiding the spam folder. You should also follow the following points:

  • Don’t use any abusive/obscene images 
  • Try to ignore spam copy
  • Avoid unnecessary attachments 

Final Thoughts 

We’ve already established that there can be various reasons for email spam issues. The best solution to this problem is proper authentication. If you are opting for DMARC authentication, you should follow its DMARC policy.  If you fail to complete valid authentications, you will stand as a malicious sender in front of the email spam filter. 
ProGIST believes in protecting both you and your clients’ email rights and privacy. ProDMARC helps you implement email authentication with DMARC to stop fraudsters from misusing your domain. Get Started with top-class cybersecurity solutions for your business at ProGIST.

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SPF, DKIM and DMARC: Are they mere acronyms or Useful Email Security?

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Since the early days of the internet, spam has been a persistent and chronic problem. Gary Thuerk of Digital Equipment Corp (DEC) sent the first unsolicited mass e-mailing (later dubbed SPAM) on May 1, 1978, advertising the VAX T-series to 400 of the then 2600 ARPAnet users.

The SMTP email protocol, which we still use today, evolved from these early ARPANET mail protocols (Postel RFC788 and RFC821) in the early 1980s, and has changed very little since then. The SMTP protocol has had little to no security built in since its introduction, and when used to send email, it offers little defense against spoofing of email addresses or servers. However, several new tools have recently been added to the email security arsenal to protect against these threats.

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are all similar features for detecting spoofed or spam emails, but they vary slightly.

SPF (RFC 7208)

SPF (Sender Policy Framework) specifies a list of servers that are permitted to send email for a particular domain using a DNS entry. Its security is based on the fact that only authorized domain administrators have access to the DNS zone records for the domain.

DKIM  (RFC 6376)

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) differs from SPF in that it verifies that the receiving server is allowed to send mail for the domain and that the quality of the mail has not changed since it was sent. Using DKIM keys stored in DNS and DKIM uses a public/private key signing mechanism.

The following steps are applied to the email process with DKIM:

  • Sending servers create a signature with their DKIM private key and insert it into the email header (DKIM-Signature).
  • Email recipients look up the DKIM public key in the sending domain’s DNS TXT record, which is then used to verify the DKIM-Signature attached to the email.

If the email body content is modified, the email signature will no longer match and validation will fail.

This process verifies that the email content has not been tampered with, as well as that the email was sent from a domain-approved server.

DMARC  (RFC 7489)

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) incorporates elements of both SPF and DKIM by stating a simple DMARC policy that can be used in both tools, as well as allowing the domain administrator to set an address that can be used to submit information about forged mail message statistics gathered by receivers against the same domain, for example:

  • Relative levels of spoofing of your domain(s).
  • Who is spoofing email purporting to be from your domain?

Does that mean your spam problem is resolved?

In an ideal world, all email servers would use these techniques, and SPAM would be significantly reduced. However, since making a mistake in configuring the necessary DNS TXT records can result in the loss of important emails, some domain owners have been hesitant to implement the methods. 

Despite this, major email domain owners such as Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo have implemented these approaches.

SPAM can still be transmitted via compromised accounts and servers, shared hosting email servers, and misconfigured servers, so multilevel email protection is the only way to ensure a clean and safe email feed.

How effective are DMARC, SPF, and DKIM?

These tools will undoubtedly have a significant effect on the fight against SPAM, and the more domains that use them, the better. However, caution should be exercised during DMARC implementation to ensure that all settings are right before going live. SPF, for example, allows you to set the changes in a test mode, which means that recipient domains will not block any mail that fails the test.

Wrapping Up

ProgIST believes in protecting both your and your clients’ email rights and privacy. ProDMARC helps you implement DMARC authentication to stop fraudsters from misusing your domain. Get Started with top-class cybersecurity solutions for your business at ProgIST.