Summary
While the DMARC standard allows for records without RUA and RUF tags (specifying report recipients), industry experts and marketers overwhelmingly recommend including them. Documentation confirms these tags are optional, but omitting them means you won't receive aggregate or forensic reports. This loss of feedback impairs your ability to monitor authentication results, identify deliverability issues, manage domain reputation, and ultimately secure your email program. Some even suggest that a DMARC report received without these tags might be a phishing attempt, further underscoring the importance of proper configuration.
Key findings
- Technically Valid: A DMARC record is syntactically valid without RUA/RUF tags.
- Reports Blocked: Absence of RUA/RUF prevents the sending of aggregate and forensic reports.
- Visibility Impaired: Missing tags result in a loss of visibility into authentication failures and potential security threats.
- Reputation Impact: Lack of feedback makes domain reputation management more challenging.
- Configuration error: DMARC reports not received due to missing RUA or RUF tags is a common misconfiguration.
Key considerations
- Security: Implementing DMARC with reporting is crucial for email security.
- Deliverability: DMARC reports provide data needed to improve email deliverability.
- Oversight: Initial concerns about report volume and complexity should not outweigh the value of the insights gained.
- Best Practice: Including RUA and RUF records is considered a best practice for DMARC implementation.
What email marketers say
5 marketer opinions
While DMARC records are technically valid without RUA and RUF tags (which specify where to send aggregate and forensic reports, respectively), omitting these tags prevents domain owners from receiving valuable feedback on email authentication results. This lack of feedback hinders the ability to monitor email sources, identify potential issues, and improve overall domain reputation and email deliverability.
Key opinions
- DMARC Validity: A DMARC record is syntactically valid without RUA/RUF tags.
- Reporting Blocked: Without RUA/RUF, no aggregate or forensic reports are generated or sent.
- Visibility Loss: Absence of reporting hinders visibility into authentication failures and potential abuse.
- Reputation Impact: Limited feedback impairs domain reputation management.
Key considerations
- Implementation Complexity: Initially, the volume and complexity of DMARC reports might seem daunting.
- Insight Importance: Recognize that insights from RUA/RUF reports are crucial for understanding email source validity.
- Troubleshooting: Missing RUA/RUF tags are a common reason for not receiving DMARC reports, hindering troubleshooting of deliverability problems.
- Visibility: If you want DMARC to work you need aggregate or forensic reporting (RUA and RUF tags) to gain visibility into email sources and potential authentication issues.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Reddit shares that they initially deployed DMARC without RUA/RUF tags due to concerns about report volume and parsing complexity, but later realized they were missing critical insights into legitimate email sources being misidentified.
16 Sep 2021 - Reddit
Marketer view
Email marketer from StackOverflow explains that a DMARC record without RUA/RUF is valid but prevents receiving valuable feedback on email authentication results, impacting domain reputation management.
15 Nov 2023 - StackOverflow
What the experts say
3 expert opinions
Experts generally agree that while a DMARC record can be technically valid without RUA and RUF tags (which specify report recipients), excluding them means you won't receive crucial aggregate and forensic reports. This lack of reporting hinders your ability to monitor authentication results, identify potential security or deliverability issues, and ultimately secure and improve your email program. One expert initially suspected a report without these tags was a phishing attempt, highlighting the unusual nature of such a configuration.
Key opinions
- DMARC Validity: A DMARC record can be technically valid without RUA/RUF tags.
- Reporting Disabled: Without RUA/RUF, aggregate and forensic reports are not sent.
- Feedback is Key: The primary purpose of DMARC is to gain the feedback, and therefore implement these tags.
- Phishing Risk: The absence of RUA/RUF in a received DMARC report may be an indicator of phishing.
Key considerations
- Security: Implementing DMARC is an important element of email security.
- Deliverability Impact: DMARC reporting will allow the owner to improve the deliverability of email.
- Risk of no tags: The reports without RUA and RUF may be a phishing risk.
- Recommendations: It is highly recommended to include RUA and RUF records to get the forensic and aggregate feedback
Expert view
Expert from Spam Resource explains that while a DMARC record is valid without RUA and RUF tags, you won't receive aggregate or forensic reports, which are crucial for monitoring authentication results and identifying potential issues.
11 Jul 2024 - Spam Resource
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks responds he hasn't seen DMARC reports sent without having a RUA or RUF address and thinks it might be phishing.
21 Mar 2023 - Email Geeks
What the documentation says
3 technical articles
Official DMARC documentation confirms that RUA and RUF tags are optional within a DMARC record. These tags designate addresses for receiving aggregate and forensic reports, respectively. While a DMARC record remains functional without them, their absence means you will not receive any reports, losing critical visibility into email authentication performance and potential failures.
Key findings
- Optional Tags: RUA and RUF tags are optional parameters in a DMARC record.
- No Reports: Without RUA and RUF tags, you will not receive aggregate or forensic DMARC reports.
- Visibility Loss: The absence of these tags means you lose visibility into authentication failures and email security.
- Functionality: DMARC record can function without RUA and RUF tags.
Key considerations
- Email Security: The importance of monitoring email security and authentication performance.
- Authentication failures: The loss of visibility of authentication failures.
- Purpose of the tags: Understand that the tags designate addresses for receiving aggregate and forensic reports.
Technical article
Documentation from RFC Editor outlines the DMARC standard, specifying that RUA and RUF tags are optional parameters. It notes that their absence simply means the sending mail server will not be instructed to send aggregate or forensic reports.
8 Jan 2025 - RFC Editor
Technical article
Documentation from DMARC.org details that the rua and ruf tags are optional in a DMARC record. The 'rua' tag specifies the address(es) to which aggregate reports should be sent, while 'ruf' specifies the address(es) for forensic reports. A DMARC record can function without them, but you won't receive reports.
1 Feb 2025 - DMARC.org
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