You might have heard about DMARC and its importance in securing your email systems against phishing and spoofing attacks, but do you know exactly what DMARC is and how to build a proper DMARC record for your domain? If not, don't worry, you've come to the right place! In this comprehensive guide to DMARC Builder, we will take you through the process of creating a DMARC record step-by-step, and show you how to ensure your emails are as secure as possible.
What is DMARC?
Understanding DMARC
Protect Your Data Today With a Secure Password Manager. Our Top Password Managers:
Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) is an email validation system that helps protect your domain from email spoofing, phishing attacks, and spam. It works by using the existing email authentication methods, such as SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (Domain Keys Identified Mail), to ensure that incoming messages are legitimate and have not been tampered with. By creating a DMARC record for your domain, you are providing instructions to mailbox providers on how to handle emails that fail SPF and DKIM validation, either by rejecting, quarantining, or accepting the emails.
Building a DMARC Record
Creating a DMARC record is a simple process that involves adding a TXT DNS entry to your domain’s DNS records. Here are the steps to follow:
1. Determine the DMARC policy: This policy tells mailbox providers how to handle emails that fail SPF and DKIM validation. There are three options:
- None: No action is taken, and reports are sent to the domain owner for analysis.
- Quarantine: Suspicious emails are put in a spam or junk folder.
- Reject: Suspicious emails are outright rejected.
2. Configure reporting options: You can specify email addresses to receive aggregate and forensic reports about your domain’s DMARC
compliance. These reports help you analyze and fine-tune your DMARC policy.
3. Configure subdomain policy: If you want to apply a different policy for subdomains under your main domain, you can do so in this step.
4. Set the policy percentage: You can choose what percentage of your domain’s emails DMARC should apply to. This is useful when initially implementing DMARC as it allows you to test the waters and make any necessary adjustments.
5. Generate and publish the DMARC record: Using a DMARC record generator, input the information from the previous steps to generate a DMARC record in the form of a TXT DNS entry. Add this entry to your domain’s DNS records.
DMARC Builder Example:
Let's consider a business called Voila with the domain voila.com. They are experiencing a lot of spoofed emails and phishing attacks, so they decide to implement a DMARC record. Here's how Voila could build their DMARC record:
1. They choose a policy of 'Reject' so that all emails that fail SPF and DKIM validation are rejected.
2. They configure reporting options to send aggregate reports to dmarc@voila.com and forensic reports to forensics@voila.com.
3. They decide to apply the same policy to their subdomains.
4. Since they are confident in their SPF and DKIM setup, they set the policy percentage to 100%.
5. They use a DMARC record generator to create the following TXT DNS entry:
_dmarc.voila.com. IN TXT "v=DMARC1; p=reject; rua=mailto:dmarc@voila.com; ruf=mailto:forensics@voila.com; sp=reject; pct=100"
Voila then adds this DMARC record to their domain's DNS records, and now their emails are protected against spoofing and phishing attacks.
Building a DMARC record to improve your domain's email security is crucial for protecting your business from phishing attacks and email spoofing. This guide has provided you with the knowledge necessary to create a secure DMARC record, ensuring your emails are compliant and secure. Don't forget to share this essential guide with your colleagues and network to help them bolster their own email security and take a stand against cyberthreats. For more tips and guides on voice phishing and cybersecurity, be sure to explore the other resources available on Voice Phishing.
Protect Your Data Today With a Secure Password Manager. Our Top Password Managers: