Everything you need to know about DMARC guide



Introduction

If you're a webmaster, you've probably heard of the DMARC standard. In this guide we'll go through everything you need to know about DMARC so that we can help your audience better understand the best practices around sending email without getting blocked by spam filters.

DKIM

DKIM is a method of signing an e-mail message. It's used to validate the sender of a message, and it acts as an extra layer of security against spam. The email message is signed with a private key and then verified by the receiver with a public key. The DKIM signature is added to the message header, which makes it easy for automated systems to differentiate between legitimate emails (the ones that contain valid signatures) and illegitimate ones (the ones without).

DMARC

DMARC is a protocol that allows you to communicate to your email users and ISPs about the validity of your emails. It also allows you to specify how you want to handle emails that fail DMARC checks.

DMARC can be used in two ways:

  • When sending out messages on behalf of an organization (by defining its own policy)

  • When receiving messages from other organizations (by using their policies).

SPF

The SPF record is a DNS record that tells receiving mail servers which hosts are allowed to send mail on behalf of your domain. It's an important step in preventing spam, but it's not the only thing you can do. You can also use DKIM and DMARC to further prevent spoofing attacks.

Note: SPF records don't authenticate your emails; they simply check if the IP address of the sending host matches what was recorded in their DNS records (or if they didn't set up DMARC).

Mail relay

Mail relay is the process of receiving and forwarding mail messages. In this process, the MTA is called a Mail Transfer Agent or MTAs. This kind of service is provided by ISPs and other companies that operate large networks such as Microsoft Exchange Server, Verizon Cloud Email platform (formerly known as Verizon Cloud), Google Apps for Business (GAFB) etc..

There are two types of MTAs:

  • User-mode MTAs - these types of servers are used by end users to send and receive email messages on their own behalf; for example: an Outlook user can use their domain name when sending an email from Hotmail address; or an Office 365 user can forward emails sent from Hotmail address through his personal account at Office 365.

  • Domain-mode MTAs - these types of servers act as gateways between different domains within one organization to route outgoing messages but also provide access control over incoming messages based on policies set up by administrators within organizations' IT department

Sender ID

Sender ID is an email authentication system that works by verifying that the sending mail server is authorized to send mail on behalf of a domain. It's also known as an SPF record, which stands for Sender Policy Framework.

Sender ID was created by Microsoft and Yahoo! in 1998 as part of their collaboration on the "Internet Mail Consortium (IMC) Policy Recommendations." The standard specifies how domains can validate incoming email, ensuring that only legitimate users are allowed access to their domains' mailboxes and inboxes.

Sender Policy Framework aka SPF

Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is a DNS record that lists the mail servers that are authorized to send email from a domain name. SPF records are used to prevent spoofing, which is when someone sends email on behalf of another domain.

The purpose of SPF records is to let your mail server know how long the person who buys your domain name should expect it to be active before they need to start sending out new messages with their own IP address instead of yours. For example: if you bought “example.com” as part of your business website but never got around adding an actual web host or IP address, then every time someone sent an email from example@example.com through their own hostname instead (so as not get caught), then this would be considered spoofing - which would lead us into having unwanted emails in our inboxes!

RFC765

RFC765 is the Internet standard for electronic mail. It defines the format and transmission of email messages, which are sent between computers over networks such as the Internet.

RFC765 is based on earlier standards such as RFC2822 (used in HTML) and X-Mailer (used in MIME). This makes it easy to create new types of messages using existing formats by just changing the headers or body text of your message—no need to worry about reinventing anything!

The most important thing you need to know about RFC765 is that it's what allows us all to send emails today!

RFC5321

RFC5321 is a standard for email messages. It defines the format of email messages sent between mail servers, and it's used to determine if an email message has been tampered with in any way. The RFC5321 standard was developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) as part of its efforts to create a stable and secure global communications infrastructure for Internet users worldwide.

The goal of this document is to help you understand how your organization can use RFC5321 to identify spam or phishing emails sent through your organization's mail server, whether these messages are coming from within your organization or not.

Conclusion

With the right tools and processes, you can successfully implement DMARC today. The key to success when it comes to implementing DMARC is not only knowing how it works but also knowing what it means for your business and brand. We hope this guide has helped you understand why DMARC is so important, as well as how to get started with its implementation.