Does your organization execute email campaigns to 5,000 recipients or more per bulk send? Does your business have the necessary email authentication tools and best practices in place? How are you managing unsubscribe requests?
Let’s explain the new rules organizations must comply with to successfully send emails, and why more stringent requirements for email authentication is an important protection for your business and clients.
In fall 2023, Google and Yahoo announced new, stricter email authentication standards to fight spam, prevent phishing and spoofing, and otherwise establish a greater level of security for senders and recipients of bulk mail. While email authentication has always been advised as a cybersecurity best practice, not until 2024 was outgoing email authentication in the Domain Name System (DNS) required.
At DMC Technology Group, we are committed to doing the right thing for our clients and providing a high level of hardware solutions and managed services that meet their needs 24/7/365. We take pride in our talented staff of engineers and IT specialists with strong communication skills that allow us to develop long-term relationships with clients, who see us as a vested partner in their success.
Let’s talk. DMC’s expertise and industry knowledge can help your Toledo, Ohio-based organization develop and execute a robust IT environment with reliable, customized hardware solutions that drive growth and innovation. Contact us to learn how.
Why Is Email Authentication Important for Your Business?
In today’s dynamic cybersecurity environment, sophisticated bad actors are constantly designing tactics to steal information and data. Now more than ever, email authentication is mission-critical for any organization to ensure emails are safe, prevent email phishing and spoofing attacks, and combat fraudulent activity. Email senders and recipients must have an email authentication policy and architecture in place to protect themselves, clients and anyone receiving their emails.
Email authentication verifies email messages are legitimate and sent from a safe domain. It protects recipients from malicious messages, and it improves the success of email campaigns by reducing Non-Delivery Reports. With email authentication, there is less of a chance emails will get rejected or marked as spam.
Google and Yahoo now require those sending more than 5,000 emails daily to meet authentication standards to ensure secure delivery. If your organization sends bulk emails to addresses ending in gmail.com or yahoo.com, you must adhere to new restrictions.
Important Email Authentication Compliance Dates
April 1, 2024: Any unauthenticated email will start being rejected.
June 1, 2024: Bulk senders must implement one-click unsubscribe.
Email Authentication: Does Your Business Need SPF, DKIM and DMARC?
DNS email authentication records validate mail sent from your Microsoft 365 account, verifying messages were not altered or compromised during transfer. DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) and Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance (DMARC) are essential components of email authentication that your business needs now. Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is also an email authentication protocol that aligns with DKIM and DMARC. By implementing SPF with DKIM and DMARC for a multi-layered email authentication strategy, you are covering all your bases.
How does SPF Stop Email Spam?
SPF prevents unauthorized messages that illegitimately use your domain name. An SPF record includes verified senders, so if it detects a sender not included in the record, those email messages are usually marked as spam.
How Does DKIM Verification Improve Bulk Email Delivery?
DKIM scans key parts of outgoing messages: From, To, Subject, Date and other fields, along with the body of email messages. When a server receives email messages, DKIM verifies messages came from the actual domain owner. DKIM alone is not enough, but it is an essential component of effective email authentication. SPF and DMARC configuration is also critical for additional validation.
How Does DMARC for Email Authentication Work?
DMARC validates emails sent from your Microsoft mail to prevent business email compromise, phishing attacks, impersonation and other fraudulent activity. Basically, DMARC works on the receiving end by verifying domains in “mail from” and “from” addresses. Important to note: DMARC messages “pass inspection” only after verification from DKIM and SPF, which is why you need all of these tools in place.
The bottom line: Implement SPF in conjunction with DMARC and DKIM for the highest level of email authentication protection for your organization and email recipients.
How Can My Business Implement New Email Authentication Protocols?
There is a level of complexity and ongoing maintenance required with implementing aligned SPF with DKIM and DMARC. At DMC, a turn-key approach with email fraud protection solutions and email security monitoring ensures compliance without business interruption. First, we recommend an assessment of existing email protocols and your overall technology ecosystem. We will review DMARC Reports to identify issues related to authentication and spam detection. Details extracted from these reports can help inform email delivery best practices
At DMC Technology Group, we are committed to doing the right thing for our clients and providing a high level of software, cloud and hardware solutions and managed services that meet their needs 24/7/365. We take pride in our talented staff of engineers and IT specialists with strong communication skills that allow us to develop long-term relationships with clients, who see us as a vested partner in their success.
Let’s talk. DMC’s expertise and industry knowledge can help your Toledo, Ohio-based organization develop and execute email authentication compliance without taking your time away from serving clients and growing your business. Contact us to learn how.