Protecting your Emails with DKIM/DMARC
16th September 2024Categories: Security
Sending an email is a bit like a relay race. Each runner has a crucial role to play, in ensuring that the baton (the email) reaches the finish line (the recipient) without any tampering.
An email to arrive at its destination, needs trust, coordination and precision, to ensure the integrity of the email journey to the recipient.
In the race to improve your email security, DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) and DMARC Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance) are both protocols to prevent email spoofing and phishing attacks. They are designed to protect your emails from being tampered with during their journey.
It’s a competitive edge that says, “We prioritise your security as much as our own.”
Here’s how:
To send an email you need: the Domain, Key, Signature, and Policy. Domain is the first runner. They represent the email’s origin, ensuring that it is sent from a legitimate source. As it propels down the track the baton is handed to the Key. The Key is responsible for encrypting the baton with a unique code, much like how DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) adds a digital signature to an email. This signature acts to verify that the email had not been altered during its journey.
The Key then passes the baton to the Signature. The Signature is all about precision, it ensures that the baton’s integrity is maintained. If anyone tried to tamper with it, the unique code would reveal the foul play. And finally, Signature hands the baton to the final runner, Policy.
Policy is the most vigilant of them all. Representing DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance), the Policy ensures that the baton has been delivered according to the predefined rules. If the baton didn’t meet the criteria, it wouldn’t reach the finish line safely and securely.
So, when the Email crosses the finish line and the baton is intact and verified, the sending of the email has been a success.
Winning the Trust Game:
In a digital era where trust is paramount, implementing DKIM and DMARC signals to your clients and partners that you take cybersecurity seriously. It’s a competitive edge that says, “We prioritise your security as much as our own.”
DKIM and DMARC are more than just acronyms in the cybersecurity lexicon—they are pivotal tools that empower businesses to authenticate emails, protect their reputation, gain crucial insights and ultimately, win the trust of their stakeholders. In the fight against cyber hackers, these technologies transform your email defences from mere walls into formidable fortresses.
If you would like to find out how to use DKIM /DMARC to protect your email contact the team at: sales@cnc-ltd.co.uk or call us on 01273 384 100.
