{"id":9866,"date":"2023-10-06T07:00:22","date_gmt":"2023-10-06T07:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carecomputers.co.uk\/?p=9866"},"modified":"2023-10-06T07:00:22","modified_gmt":"2023-10-06T07:00:22","slug":"from-spf-to-dkim-to-dmarc-email-security-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/creativeideasfactory.co.uk\/carenew\/from-spf-to-dkim-to-dmarc-email-security-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"From SPF to DKIM to DMARC: Email Security Strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this article, we\u2019re going to go over everything you need to know about SPF, DKIM, and, DMARC, and go through how you can protect your organisation\u2019s emails thoroughly with a few simple steps.<\/p>\n

Understanding SPF<\/h2>\n

Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is the technology that\u2019s used to authenticate the sender of an email.<\/p>\n

With an SPF record, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) can make sure that a mail server is authorised to send emails for a specific domain address. This stops email spoofing, by ensuring that the sender of an email is legitimate. It also is the reason why your outgoing emails aren\u2019t marked as spam \u2014 the SPF record is proof that the email serves a legitimate purpose.<\/p>\n

An SPF record is a DNS TXT that lists all of the servers that are allowed to send an email from a domain, meaning that any server that tries to spoof a domain without being allowed \u2014 which is known by checking the SPF record \u2014 will be flagged up and rejected by the SPF framework.<\/p>\n

SPF essentially works as a record to ensure that authorised domains are sending emails, to make sure that you don\u2019t receive any spoofed emails that could have nasty consequences for your organisation. It acts as the first line of defence and redirects any rejected emails to the spam bin.<\/p>\n

Demystifying DKIM<\/h2>\n

DomainKeys Identified Mail is another authentication service that uses digital signatures to be able to verify that the source of an email is legitimate. However, DKIM specifically ensures that both the sent and received email are the same \u2014 ensuring that the email hasn\u2019t been tampered with during transit.<\/p>\n

Because of this, using DKIM by itself isn\u2019t really secure enough, as it doesn\u2019t prevent spoofing or phishing \u2014 it only ensures that there has been no change in signature from being sent to being received.<\/p>\n

However, DKIM is an important tool to ensure that your organisation\u2019s emails haven\u2019t been hijacked and messed with during transit \u2014 as DKIM will confirm that the email received is the same as the one that has been sent off. DKIM signatures are invisible and are at a server level \u2014 the recipient\u2019s system finds the public key of the sender to ensure that it matches the key on the email.<\/p>\n

Mastering DMARC<\/h2>\n

Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance (DMARC) is an email authentication, policy, and reporting protocol. Using SPF and DKIM as a foundation, DMARC complements the former two standards by helping update them to the needs of the modern world.<\/p>\n

Specifically, DMARC is designed to satisfy the following \u2014<\/p>\n