In the rapidly evolving technological era, cyber-attacks are becoming more sophisticated. For email authentication, DMARC has become an essential component. Its proper implementation, along with the implementation of DKIM and SPF, helps protect the domains against spoofing attacks.
As spoofing attacks become stronger daily, many organizations are now focusing on the proper implementation of DMARC to protect their email domains. However, implementing DMARC properly is not easy. Various challenges arise when doing so.
The challenges in DMARC implementation prevent emails from passing authentication checks, which poses various security risks to email domains. Addressing these challenges and fixing the issues is necessary.
The following guide explains the importance of DMARC in preventing spoofing attacks. It also discusses the common challenges in DMARC implementation and possible solutions.
Understanding DMARC: What It Is and How It Functions
It is essential to know about DMARC before its implementation. Domain-based message authentication, reporting, and conformance work as an email validation protocol, combining SPF and DKIM. DMARC allows the sender to specify the rules and policies for accepting or rejecting emails on their domains.
The proper implementation of DMARC, along with SPF and DKIM, verifies the sender’s IP address and adds a unique signature to the sent emails. It allows domain owners to specify actions that must be taken against emails that have failed authentication.
Why is DMARC Essential for Email Security?
It is not humanly possible to manually check whether emails are coming from legitimate sources. DMARC allows this by authenticating incoming emails. It also reduces the chances of getting spam through phishing emails.
DMARC reporting also allows domain owners to get updates on email traffic. The unusual traffic is a sign that the email domain is under attack. The DMARC reports provide detailed information on the functioning of authentication protocols.
DMARC also improves email deliverability. It means that your emails end up getting into the right recipient inbox. This is why Email Service Providers use it to filter out spam and suspicious emails.
5 Common DMARC Implementation Challenges and Their Solutions
There could be various causes of failure in DMARC implementation. The list includes the most common challenges in DMARC implementation and their solutions.
1. Mismanagement of DNS Records
DNS records work as the address books for DMARC, helping find verified email addresses. Inadequate management of these DNS records causes DMARC implementation to fail. The proper configuration of DNS records, along with the SPF and DKIM, is essential in recognizing authorized email senders.
How to Address It
The issue in setting up DNS records must be appropriately addressed to resolve this issue. You can use a DNS lookup tool to confirm whether the DMARC record works appropriately. You must use the TXT record with the name “dmarc.yourdomain.com”. At this address, you can change yourdomain.com to our domain’s name.
2. DMARC Alignment Issues
DMARC alignment issues occur due to the mismatch of the domains in an email’s header and those listed in DKIM or SPF records. Any problems in the DMARC, SPF, or DKIM alignment cause the emails to fail the authentication checks.
There could be various reasons behind the alignment issues. The most common is altering the email message when passed through various servers. Also, the incorrect setting up of DKIM signatures and spoofed emails cause issues in DMARC.
How to Address It
“From address” The issue can be resolved perfectly by aligning the “From” address with the SPF record and DKIM signatures. Manually setting the alignment settings for SPF and DKIM is recommended. These settings in the DMARC alignment effectively implement the DMARC policy in the DNS settings.
3. Complications with Email Forwarding
The DMARC alignment failures can also be caused by modified emails due to forwarding. Email forwarding gives rise to SPF alignment issues. The SPF alignment issues occur when the From address of the forwarded server’s domain is not updated.
Similarly, after forwarding the email, the DKIM signature also becomes invalid. It mainly happens when the email content and header are not updated after forwarding emails. The third-party servers may not align with the DMARC authentication mechanisms and break the SPF and DKIM alignment.
How to Address It
For the emails to properly follow DMARC authentication, proper implementation of SPF and DKIM is necessary. As SPF is more vulnerable to failure during email forwarding, it must be implemented with DKIM to prevent the issues.
One can also use the DMARC forwarding service. Automated DMAC forwarding maintains SPF and DKIM alignment and handles the proper forwarding of emails. DMARC forwarding service works to recheck and re-sign the forwarded emails and make them pass authentication checks.
4. Errors in Configuring SPF Records
It is a TXT record that is published in DNS settings. SPF record list contains a list of IP addresses that are authorized to send emails on your domain. It specifies rules to specify DNS records of other domains.
SPF misconfiguration can affect the implementation of DMARC. An SPF record can be misconfigured in various ways. One of these mistakes is the reaction of an SPF record that requires the receiving domain to do 10 domain lookups for incoming emails.
How to Address It
This solution is resolved when domain owners flatten their SPF record by listing the approved IP addresses. The list is created directly into the SPF record instead of relying on DNS lookups. One can also use SPF management tools to automatically update and manage SPF records.
5. DKIM Key Mismanagement
DomainKeys Identified Mail is based on signing emails with a pair of public and private keys. These keys are used to validate the emails coming from authentic domains. It shows that the emails have not been modified.
These keys are the long strings of data. Therefore, they are tricky to control DNS settings. While implementing, even a small mistake in the data can cause DKIM failure. The failures in DKIM’s proper implementation led to DMARC failure. One of the common errors in DKIM implementation includes copy/paste errors.
How to Address It
The DKIM misconfiguration issue can be resolved by changing DKIM keys at least every six months to reduce the risk of attacks. This prevents the attackers from stealing DKIM keys.
However, various organizations don’t have a proper system to update and manage these keys. The use of a single key for a long time can compromise email authentication. Therefore it is recommended to manage and update it for better implementation.
Conclusion
DMARC is a powerful tool to protect organizations against email spoofing. However, its implementation takes time and effort. For better implementation, it is required to ensure that all authorized senders are listed in the SPF record with proper DKIM signatures. The adjustment of DMARC policies is also essential in achieving the balance between security and deliverability.
Correctly implementing DMARC helps block phishing and spoofing attacks. If you are dealing with such implementation issues, PowerDMARC offers various features and services for better DMARC implementation. You can get help from its DMARC reporting feature to better configure DMARC on your domain.
