Fixing DMARC Enforcement For Smaller and Emerging Brands

Sometimes, even illegitimate emails pass the DMARC check, and that’s because of the lack of enforcement controls by the domain owners. This is one of the primary cybersecurity vulnerabilities that allow cybercriminals to fool people through phishing emails. 

In October 2022, phishing attacks targeted nearly 600 brand names globally. Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo emerged as the top choices for spoofing, and PayPal was the dominant payment system, being referenced in more than 84 percent of phishing attacks.

It’s true that bigger brands have email authentication protocols in place, but what about the smaller and emerging brands?

We believe the instances of spoofing, spamming, and phishing emails are going to come down only when customers prompt the financial consequences of impersonation onto smaller businesses.

Image sourced from fastercapital.com

Impersonated Brands Avoid Being Accountable

Mostly, it’s the hundreds or thousands of companies, nonprofits, and other groups whose employees get caught up in fake emails that bear the brunt of the consequences. These deceptive emails might be annoying spam, but more commonly, they bring in harmful stuff like stolen passwords, business email scams, or ransomware attacks.

The sad part is that the victims who fall prey to these impersonations can’t really do much to get compensated. And the companies being impersonated? Well, they don’t really have a good reason to change what they’re doing. Moreover, smaller and emerging brands are more focused on the growth that directly adds money to their account and lack the bandwidth to take care of cybersecurity.

What’s the Solution? Can Customers Change the Scenario for The Sake of Their Own Safety?

The trick here is to play the victim card. After all, customers have a lot of power. Customers need to get the brands riled up about the risks they face because of the company’s lack of ability to protect their personal and financial details and demand SPF, DKIM, and DMARC email authentication protocols as a non-negotiable part of the deal.

Small businesses are all about making sales, and they are likely to give in to reasonable requests to keep customers happy and prevent them from associating with their competitors. 

Even a medium-sized government agency or a Fortune 5000 corporation can throw in demand for email authentication protocols in their contract without breaking the bank. It’s a small cost for the organization, and it significantly slashes the risk of falling victim to email impersonations.

Setting up all three authentication protocols takes a bit of time, but it won’t cost a hefty amount or too many resources. Customers can also demand the brands to set up the protocols in a way that only they have to deal with the hassle of impersonating emails.

How is DMARC a Concrete Against Phishing Attacks?

DMARC prevents email-based menaces by ensuring that emails genuinely come from the claimed sender, making it difficult for malicious actors to forge or impersonate legitimate email domains. DMARC goes beyond authentication; it monitors incoming emails, providing detailed reports on their authenticity. 

Additionally, it allows domain owners to set policies for handling emails that fail authentication checks, providing options to reject or quarantine such suspicious messages. By acting as a vigilant gatekeeper, DMARC significantly enhances the security of email communication, thwarting potential threats posed by impersonation attacks.

Does it sound too technical?

Let’s understand this in simpler words. 

Imagine you have a secret club, and you only want your trusted friends to get in. Now, think of DMARC as the bouncer of that club.

DMARC helps to make sure that when someone sends an email claiming to be from your club, it’s actually legit. It does this by checking if the email is using your club’s official rules (authentication protocols like SPF and DKIM). If everything matches up, great! The email gets in. But if someone’s trying to fake it, DMARC rejects their entry!

So, DMARC is like the watchful bouncer making sure only the real, approved emails get through, and the impostors stay out. It helps prevent sneaky impersonation attacks on your club, which is actually your email-sending domain.

DMARC Reporting Makes the Process More Effective

DMARC reporting means you allow recipients to send you feedback on every email they receive from you. These feedbacks come in the form of aggregate and forensic reports: DMARC Aggregate reports provide a summary of email authentication results, aiding domain owners in understanding overall email usage. DMARC Forensic reports offer detailed, individual-level insights into failed authentication, helping diagnose and address specific issues with email delivery. 

We at DMARCReport can help you analyze and manage these reports to prevent phishing attacks or mitigate their after-effects. So, contact us today to get more details.