Must-Haves For Email Security & Deliverability: SPF, DMARC, & DKIM
Introduction to Email Security
Email is a cornerstone of business communication, and accordingly, knowing how to protect and ensure reliability of these communications is crucial. Today, we're focusing on three pivotal tools in email security: SPF, DMARC, and DKIM. These acronyms represent technologies designed to authenticate email sources and ensure the integrity of email messages. They play a critical role in defending against common threats like spam, phishing, and email spoofing.
However, it's important to recognize that tools like SPF, DMARC, and DKIM aren't just shields against threats; they also play a role in ensuring your emails actually reach their intended recipients. They make them more trustworthy and more likely to land in the right inboxes. And by February 2024, Google and Yahoo will begin enforcing the use of these technologies for organizations that send a lot of email, so now’s a perfect time to check up on your email security, ensuring that your emails get to where they need to go.
Let’s explore how these tools work hand in hand to keep your emails safe and effectively delivered.
SPF: Strengthening Sender Credibility
SPF, or Sender Policy Framework, is about sender validation. It allows domain owners to specify which email servers are authorized to send mail on their behalf. The idea is that organizations provide an authoritative list of what email servers are allowed to send emails on behalf of the organization.
In essence, you want to ensure that all the tools you use to handle email communications are listed in the SPF record for your organization. Create SPF records for tools for productivity suites like Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 as well as sales and marketing tools like Salesforce, Hubspot, MailChimp, and more.
There are multiple servers involved in every email exchange. When a receiving server gets a new email, it will check the SPF record of the organization sending the email. If a receiving server encounters an email that is sent from a sending domain without an SPF record, the receiving server may consider it untrustworthy.
Having correctly-configured SPF records has a number of other benefits. It prevents unauthorized use of your email domain, which can reduce the risk of your domain being put on a blocklist. It also reduces the risk that your emails will end up in a recipient’s spam folder because email servers have a higher level of trust in emails from domains with SPF records.
DKIM - Ensuring Email Integrity
DKIM stands for DomainKeys Identified Mail. It's a bit like a tamper-proof envelope for your emails. DKIM provides a way to ensure that an email message hasn't been tampered with between your email server and your recipient's email server. It does this by attaching a digital signature to each outgoing email which is then compared with authoritative data in your DNS records to validate that the email hasn’t been altered.
DKIM validation is a crucial process that helps prevent phishing, email spoofing, and tampering of email content. It also has the distinct advantage of improving your email reputation and deliverability.
DMARC - Combining SPF and DKIM for Enhanced Protection
DMARC, or Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance, brings SPF and DKIM together, creating a comprehensive approach to email authentication. By setting a clear policy on how to treat emails that fail SPF or DKIM checks, DMARC provides consistency in email handling. This consistency is key to maintaining a good sender reputation.
Email servers and ISPs (Internet Service Providers) favor domains with a strong DMARC policy because it shows a commitment to security and authenticity. Moreover, the feedback mechanism in DMARC helps you identify and fix issues that could affect email deliverability, ensuring that your legitimate emails are not mistakenly blocked or marked as spam.
The Collective Strength of SPF, DKIM, and DMARC
SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are not standalone tools; they're most effective when used together to secure email communications. SPF guards the gate, verifying senders; DKIM ensures the message hasn’t been tampered with; and DMARC dictates what happens when messages fail these checks.
Implementing these protocols is a proactive step toward safeguarding your email domain, protecting your reputation, and ensuring the trustworthiness of your email correspondence. In the digital landscape, they are your reliable guardians, keeping your email interactions secure, credible, and deliverable.
Now is a perfect time to ensure that your domain is protected from misuse, and that your emails reach their intended recipients. And if you’re looking for a partner to help you embrace these tools, or simply provide a check-up of your email health, RipRap Security is always here to help. Get in touch with us here if you’d like to chat about email security.
