The 'ruf' DMARC tag is an abbreviation for "Reporting URI for Forensic reports." It specifies where DMARC forensic reports, also known as failure reports, should be sent. These reports contain detailed information about individual email messages that fail DMARC authentication, offering insights into why specific emails were not delivered successfully. When you implement DMARC, you're essentially telling recipient email servers what to do with messages that claim to be from your domain but don't pass authentication checks, and where to send reports about those messages.
While the 'ruf' tag provides valuable forensic data, it is not as widely adopted as its counterpart, the 'rua' tag for aggregate reports. This is primarily due to privacy concerns associated with the sensitive nature of the information contained within forensic reports. Unlike aggregate reports, which provide summarized data, RUF reports can expose parts of the email content that might be considered confidential.
Understanding the 'ruf' tag is crucial for a complete picture of DMARC reporting, even if you decide not to implement it for your domain. It represents a level of granularity in DMARC reporting that can be highly informative for specific types of email security analysis, allowing administrators to pinpoint exactly what went wrong with a particular email. For a deeper dive into how it compares to aggregate reports, explore the difference between 'ruf' and 'rua' DMARC tags.
What are DMARC forensic reports?
DMARC forensic reports, specified by the 'ruf' tag, contain highly detailed information about individual email messages that fail SPF or DKIM authentication checks and subsequently fail DMARC. These reports are generated almost immediately after a failure occurs, providing real-time feedback on potential email authentication issues or spoofing attempts. The content of these reports is designed to help domain owners understand the exact circumstances of a failed email, making them a powerful tool for diagnosing problems.
When an email fails DMARC, an RUF report can include a variety of diagnostic information. This typically involves the full message headers, the subject line, the sender's email address, and IP addresses involved in the transmission. This level of detail can be invaluable for pinpointing misconfigurations in your email setup or for identifying specific instances of unauthorized use of your domain. To learn more about the specifics, see what DMARC tag specifies forensic reports.
Content of RUF reports
RUF reports, as noted by Duocircle, often contain sensitive data from the failed email, including message headers, recipient information, and sometimes even parts of the message body. Due to these privacy implications, many email service providers (ESPs) and internet service providers (ISPs) have opted not to generate or send RUF reports. This is a significant reason why you might find fewer RUF reports compared to RUA reports in your DMARC monitoring.
Configuring the 'ruf' tag involves adding it to your DMARC record, which is a TXT record in your domain's DNS. The value of the 'ruf' tag is a comma-separated list of URIs (email addresses) where the forensic reports should be sent. It's crucial that these email addresses are within domains that you control or have explicit permission to receive such reports, as the sensitive nature of the data requires secure handling.
When setting up your DMARC record, you might include both 'rua' and 'ruf' tags. For example, your record might look something like the one below. Remember that for the 'ruf' tag to be effective, the recipient server must also support sending forensic reports, and as mentioned, not all do due to privacy considerations. Always ensure the email address used is monitored for security purposes.
It is important to consider the requirements for RUA and RUF in DMARC policies, especially concerning the domains that can receive these reports. Best practice dictates that you should own or manage the domains associated with the reporting email addresses to prevent data leakage and ensure compliance with privacy regulations.
Why forensic reports are less common than aggregate reports
Despite the detailed insights they offer, DMARC forensic reports are significantly less common than aggregate reports (RUA). The primary reason for this disparity lies in the nature of the data they contain. RUF reports, by design, include portions of the actual email content, which can be sensitive or proprietary. This raises significant privacy and data security concerns for both sending organizations and recipient ISPs.
Forensic reports (RUF)
Content: Contains detailed information about individual failed emails, including headers, subject, and sometimes body snippets.
Frequency: Generated in real-time as failures occur.
Privacy: High privacy concerns due to inclusion of sensitive message data.
Adoption:Limited by many mail receivers due to privacy issues.
Aggregate reports (RUA)
Content: Provides summarized, anonymized data on all mail traffic, showing pass/fail rates.
Frequency: Typically sent daily, providing a snapshot of the previous day's activity.
Privacy:Minimal privacy concerns as no sensitive content is shared.
Adoption:Widely supported by almost all mail receivers.
Many major email providers, including Verify DMARC, either do not generate RUF reports at all or only do so under very specific conditions, often requiring prior arrangements. This means that even if you include the 'ruf' tag in your DMARC record, you might not receive many, if any, forensic reports. As a result, most organizations focus their DMARC monitoring efforts on aggregate reports, which provide a broader overview of email authentication performance without the privacy risks.
For organizations seeking comprehensive DMARC visibility, focusing on 'rua' aggregate reports is the practical approach. While the 'ruf' tag offers detailed forensic data, its limited availability makes it less reliable for ongoing monitoring. You can learn whether DMARC reports can be sent without RUA or RUF addresses to understand reporting options fully.
The benefits of DMARC and how Suped helps
Implementing DMARC, regardless of whether you utilize 'ruf' or primarily 'rua' reports, brings significant benefits to your email security and deliverability. It allows you to protect your domain from impersonation and phishing attacks, ensuring that only legitimate emails from your domain reach their intended recipients. DMARC also provides crucial visibility into your email ecosystem, helping you identify unauthorized senders and misconfigurations.
At Suped, we offer a comprehensive email security and deliverability platform designed to make DMARC easy and actionable. Our platform simplifies the complex process of DMARC monitoring and reporting, providing you with clear insights and recommendations. We understand the challenges of email security, and our tools are built to address them head-on.
Suped stands out with AI-Powered Recommendations, telling you exactly what to do to fix issues. We also offer Real-Time Alerts, a Unified Platform for DMARC, SPF, and DKIM, SPF Flattening, and a robust MSP and Multi-Tenancy Dashboard. With a generous free plan, we make DMARC accessible and manageable for everyone. This ensures your emails reach the inbox safely and consistently, fostering trust and improving your overall communication strategy. You can discover more about the benefits of implementing DMARC in detail.
Understanding the role of 'ruf'
In summary, the 'ruf' DMARC tag specifies the destination for forensic (failure) reports, which provide detailed, individual-level information on DMARC authentication failures. While these reports offer deep insights into email security issues, their widespread adoption is hindered by privacy concerns related to the sensitive data they contain. As a result, aggregate reports (RUA) are far more commonly used and supported by email service providers for monitoring DMARC compliance. Understanding the 'ruf' tag is essential for a comprehensive grasp of DMARC's capabilities, even if practical implementation is often limited.
