DKIM, SPF, DMARC...Why You Need To Know These Terms

You have worked hard to build your business from the ground up. What you do not need right now is a nefarious actor sending emails from your domain. Business Email Compromise (BEC) jumped 81% last year and can be prevented by proper configuration of your domain’s email protection.

With recent changes made by Google and Yahoo mail systems, it is more important than ever to verify your domain’s email is secure and not at risk of phishing, impersonation, and potentially used in illegal scenarios.

Use our free scan tool below for a risk assessment of your domain protection. If you have concerns, send us an email to start a discussion on how we can help you improve your score. Send emails to info@kingstreettech.com.

What is Email Authentication? 

Email authentication is a technical solution that verifies whether an email comes from the claimed sender only. As such, it blocks or prevents malicious and fraudulent acts like phishing and spamming.

The Sender Policy Framework (SPF),DomainKeys Identified Email (DKIM),and Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) are the three common email authentication standards.

Benefits of Email Authentication for Your Business

  • Enhances a positive brand image
  • Protects your customers from cybercriminals
  • Minimizes the possibility of data breaching
  • Bolsters your brand’s trustworthiness
  • Improves email deliverability

What is the Mechanism Behind Email Authentication?

The basic authentication of an email involves confirming the origin of the email domain ownership of Message Transfer Agents (MTAs). MTAs transfer emails between the computer of a sender and a recipient. Thus, they are very reliable for catching spam or fraudulent emails. 

In easier words, the domain name system (DNS) stores email authentication protocols of all the domains and subdomains. To validate an email’s authenticity, the sender’s and receiver’s servers communicate with each other. This confirms the origin of an email.

For example, you receive a surprise gift from a friend. What’s the first thing you’d do?

You’d call them to find out whether they have actually sent you a gift. If they confirm, you will open up the parcel.

But what if they say, “No, I haven’t sent you any gift”? You’d send the suspicious parcel back as it may contain something dangerous.

The same concept applies when striving to authenticate your email domain and improve your email security.