Summary
Identifying all mail streams and sending tools within an organization is crucial for maintaining strong email deliverability, ensuring DMARC compliance, and preventing unauthorized sending. The primary method involves leveraging DMARC aggregate reports, which provide a comprehensive overview of all email traffic originating from your domain, whether authorized or not. Beyond DMARC, a combination of technical checks, internal communication, and thorough auditing is essential to uncover every sending point.
Key findings
- DMARC reports: DMARC aggregate (RUA) reports are the most comprehensive way to identify all mail streams using your domain in the visible From header, including both legitimate and unauthorized sending.
- Scope of reports: These reports detail mail authenticated with SPF and/or DKIM, mail sent without proper authentication, and even fraudulent mail sent using your domain.
- SPF record review: Checking your domain's SPF record can reveal authorized sending sources, though it may not be exhaustive if not all senders are correctly listed.
- Internal communication: Engaging with various departments, especially IT, marketing, and sales, is vital to uncover shadow IT or departmental email sending tools.
Key considerations
- DMARC implementation: Ensure a DMARC record with a rua tag is set up to receive aggregate reports. You can learn more about DMARC tags and their meanings.
- DNS control: Access to DNS records is necessary to configure or update DMARC, SPF, and DKIM settings for proper email authentication.
- Continuous monitoring: Mail streams can change or new ones can be introduced, making continuous DMARC report analysis and regular audits essential.
- Collaboration: Work closely with system administrators and DNS owners to ensure all technical configurations are correct and up to date.
- Third-party services: Many organizations use third-party email service providers (ESPs) for various functions like marketing, transactional emails, or customer support, all of which count as mail streams. Reviewing DMARC reports can help identify email sending vendors for DMARC enforcement. A comprehensive list of DMARC analysis vendors is available on DMARCVendors.com.
What email marketers say
Email marketers often face the challenge of identifying all email sending sources within their company, especially in larger organizations or those with decentralized IT structures. Their experiences highlight the importance of not just technical tools like DMARC, but also persistent internal communication to uncover hidden or forgotten mail streams. They frequently encounter situations where departments are unaware of, or fail to disclose, all the platforms they use for email communication.
Key opinions
- DMARC as primary: Many marketers see DMARC aggregate reports as the primary and most complete method for discovering all email sending entities using their domain.
- Hidden senders: It's common for companies to have unknown or forgotten mail streams, requiring diligent investigation and cross-departmental collaboration.
- Agency challenges: Agencies managing clients' email deliverability often face hurdles in getting clients to provide necessary DNS access or information about their email setup.
Key considerations
- Client education: Educating clients or internal stakeholders about the importance of DMARC and identifying all sending sources is critical.
- Holistic view: Don't just rely on DMARC; also engage with sysadmins and check existing SPF records to uncover more details about mail streams. This can help with general email deliverability issues.
- Persistence: Be prepared for a lengthy process of discovery, as finding all email sending tools can involve multiple conversations and cross-referencing data.
- Tool selection: While DMARC itself is a standard, choosing the right DMARC monitoring and reporting tool is important for effective analysis. You can refer to guides on the best tools for tracking all-round email deliverability.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Email Geeks explains that the core challenge often lies in convincing clients to actually set up DMARC, even when it's clear what they need to do. Once configured, DMARC reports reveal a treasure trove of information.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Email Geeks found that DMARC reports are essential for agencies because they provide incontrovertible evidence of email streams, even those clients are unaware of. This data-driven approach helps to bridge the knowledge gap.
What the experts say
Experts in email deliverability and cybersecurity consistently point to DMARC as the cornerstone for identifying all mail streams. Their insights stress the importance of understanding the data within DMARC reports, the technical configurations of SPF and DKIM, and the potential for unauthorized domain usage. They also highlight the operational complexities of implementing and managing DMARC across diverse organizational structures.
Key opinions
- DMARC's purpose: The fundamental purpose of DMARC aggregate reports is to provide comprehensive visibility into all email activity associated with a given domain.
- Comprehensive data: DMARC reports include authentication results for all emails, revealing legitimate sending, unauthenticated sending, and even spoofing attempts.
- Authentication standards: Proper configuration of SPF and DKIM is critical for DMARC to function effectively and provide accurate insights into email streams.
- DNS control importance: Direct control over DNS records is essential for implementing and adjusting DMARC policies and other email authentication mechanisms.
Key considerations
- Report analysis: Raw DMARC reports are XML-formatted and can be complex; using a DMARC analysis platform simplifies the data interpretation. Understanding DMARC reports from Google and Yahoo is key.
- Hidden domains: Companies might have dormant or forgotten domains that are still used for email, which DMARC can help expose. This is important for the benefits of implementing DMARC.
- Policy progression: While visibility starts with a p=none policy, the ultimate goal is to move to enforcement policies (quarantine or reject) for full protection.
- Internal education: It is crucial to inform all departments about email sending best practices and the impact of unapproved sending tools on domain reputation. Spamresource.com discusses DMARC reporting best practices.
Expert view
Deliverability expert from Email Geeks confirms that the explicit purpose of DMARC aggregate reports is to track and monitor all email streams originating from a domain, making them indispensable for oversight.
Expert view
Deliverability expert from Email Geeks elaborates that DMARC reports provide a holistic view of how a domain is used in the From header by various mailbox providers, giving unparalleled insight into email flow.
What the documentation says
Official documentation and technical specifications for email authentication protocols like DMARC, SPF, and DKIM clearly outline their roles in identifying and verifying email sending sources. DMARC, in particular, is designed to provide visibility into domain usage across the internet, enabling organizations to gain control over their email ecosystem. These specifications emphasize the importance of data collection and analysis for effective email security and deliverability.
Key findings
- DMARC reports (RUA/RUF): DMARC defines aggregate (RUA) and forensic (RUF) reports as mechanisms for Mailbox Providers to send feedback on email authentication results, crucial for identifying sending sources.
- Domain alignment: DMARC's core function relies on the alignment of the From domain with the SPF and DKIM authenticated domains, which helps map email traffic back to its origin.
- Sender Policy Framework (SPF): SPF records list authorized sending IP addresses and hosts for a domain, offering a foundational layer for identifying legitimate mail streams. Read what is the full form of SPF in email.
- DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM): DKIM provides a cryptographic signature that links an email to a domain, further aiding in the identification of legitimate sending sources. A simple guide to DMARC, SPF, and DKIM provides more detail.
Key considerations
- DNS records: All email authentication mechanisms rely on correctly configured DNS records, underscoring the importance of DNS management in identifying and controlling mail streams.
- Iterative process: DMARC implementation is typically an iterative process, starting with monitoring to gain full visibility before moving to stricter policies, ensuring all legitimate sources are identified and authorized.
- Data aggregation: RFC 7489 (DMARC) specifies that Mailbox Providers send aggregated data to the reporting URI, providing a summarized view of email flows for analysis.
- Compliance and security: Properly identifying all mail streams through these standards not only improves deliverability but also enhances email security by preventing unauthorized use of the domain. The DMARC standard (RFC 7489) offers in-depth details on this, emphasizing its role in combating email fraud. RFC 7489 outlines the DMARC protocol.
Technical article
Documentation from DMARC.org defines the purpose of DMARC aggregate reports as providing domain owners with invaluable insight into how their domains are being used across the internet, making it the go-to mechanism for identifying all sending sources.
Technical article
Documentation from RFC 7208 (SPF) specifies that Sender Policy Framework records are designed to publish which hosts are authorized to send email for a domain, thus acting as a directory of legitimate outbound mail servers.
Related resources
2 resources
Related pages
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A simple guide to DMARC, SPF, and DKIM
Understanding and troubleshooting DMARC reports from Google and Yahoo
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