What Are DMARC Solutions?
DMARC (Domain-Based Message Authentication Reporting and Conformance) is a method used to validate emails being sent and received by your email domains, improving email deliverability. DMARC provides organizations with two important security functions. Firstly, it allows organizations to monitor their email channels with greater visibility. Organizations are able to see emails being sent and received, and assess the reputation of these emails. Secondly, organizations are able to block malicious emails being sent via their domains to protect their clients and customers from spoofed domain messages and other attacks.
There are a number of DMARC software solutions available to businesses to enhance their emails security. These tools help organizations to enable and configure DMARC protocols, present digestible DMARC reports that provide visibility into email channels, and allow organizations to set DMARC policies that block malicious emails from being sent from their domains.
In this shortlist, we’ll take you through the top DMARC email security solutions for businesses. We’ll cover their top features, what their users are saying about them and which organizations they are best suited for.
EasyDMARC is a cybersecurity solution that safeguards organizations from email threats like domain spoofing, brand impersonation, and phishing. Its DMARC platform-as-a-Service offers advanced features to manage DMARC, SPF, DKIM, and BIMI records, ensuring robust email security.
Why We Picked EasyDMARC: We selected EasyDMARC for its comprehensive reporting capabilities and user-friendly interface. These features allow businesses to monitor and maintain their email security effectively.
EasyDMARC Key Features: The platform includes tools for creating, monitoring, and maintaining DMARC, SPF, DKIM, and BIMI records. It offers Email List Verification, Mailbox Warmup, and Inbox Placement via EasySender. Additionally, it provides detailed, visual reports on SPF and DKIM handling, automatic alerts for urgent issues, and data collection from incoming emails for enhanced security analysis.
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Pricing: EasyDMARC offers a free plan, a Plus Plan at $35.99/month, and a Premium Plan at $71.99/month.
Best suited for: EasyDMARC is ideal for SMBs seeking a user-friendly email security solution and larger organizations that require detailed insights into their SPF and DKIM handling.
Libraesva LetsDMARC is an email authentication solution that enhances domain security and protects against unauthorized use, including email spoofing and fraud. It simplifies the implementation of DMARC, DKIM, and SPF policies, improving email deliverability and safeguarding brand reputation.
Why We Picked Libraesva LetsDMARC: We appreciate its intuitive guided configuration that simplifies the setup of email authentication policies. Additionally, it offers comprehensive visibility into email flows, helping businesses identify and block unauthorized senders.
Libraesva LetsDMARC Best Features: Key features include easy configuration of DMARC, DKIM, and SPF settings, real-time visibility into email sources, protection against domain spoofing, and enhanced email deliverability. The solution integrates seamlessly with existing email systems, requiring no DNS expertise.
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Pricing: For pricing details, visit the Libraesva LetsDMARC website.
Who it’s for: Libraesva LetsDMARC is ideal for businesses of all sizes looking to secure their email domains and protect their brand reputation from spoofing and fraud. It is particularly beneficial for organizations without dedicated DNS expertise.
RedSift OnDMARC is a specialized solution designed to combat domain impersonation and business email compromise attacks. It simplifies DMARC enforcement and management, offering step-by-step setup guidance and comprehensive admin dashboards for clear domain health insights.
Why We Picked RedSift OnDMARC: We like its Dynamic SPF feature, which overcomes the 10 SPF lookup limit, and the hosted BIMI with integrated VMC provisioning, which enhances email trust by displaying logos in inboxes.
RedSift OnDMARC Best Features: Key features include Dynamic SPF, hosted BIMI with VMC provisioning, DNSGuardian to block malicious emails, and RedSift Radar LLM, an AI tool for fixing security exposures. Integrations include partnerships with Entrust, Microsoft, Cisco, and Validity.
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Pricing: For detailed pricing, visit RedSift’s official website.
Who it’s for: RedSift OnDMARC is best suited for organizations across various industries, including healthcare, finance, retail, and government, that need robust DMARC management and enhanced email security.
Fortra Agari DMARC Protection is a cloud-based email security solution that safeguards organizations from advanced email threats like spear-phishing and business email compromise. It automates DMARC implementation to protect brands and enhance digital engagement.
Why We Picked Fortra Agari DMARC Protection: We value its machine learning technology that effectively stops sophisticated email attacks. Additionally, its automation of DMARC email authentication and enforcement simplifies the protection process.
Fortra Agari DMARC Protection Best Features: Key features include automated DMARC implementation, auto-generating and hosting DNS records, and ensuring DMARC record accuracy. It also offers enhanced visibility into DMARC reports, making it easier to implement reject policies for malicious emails. Integrations include seamless compatibility with various email systems, and it supports complex sending environments with multiple domains.
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Pricing: For pricing details, contact Fortra directly.
Who it’s for: Fortra Agari DMARC Protection is ideal for mid-sized and large organizations seeking a robust DMARC solution with expert guidance to navigate complex email security environments.
Barracuda Domain Fraud Protection is a DMARC solution that enables organizations to quickly set up authentication policies to stop brand abuse and impersonation attempts while improving email deliverability. It integrates seamlessly with Barracuda’s broader email protection platform for Microsoft 365, offering a comprehensive security suite.
Why We Picked Barracuda Domain Fraud Protection: We appreciate its automated DMARC reporting and analytics, which provide detailed insights into email sources and spoofing attempts. Additionally, its integration with Barracuda’s email security solutions for Microsoft 365 offers a holistic approach to email protection.
Barracuda Domain Fraud Protection Best Features: The solution offers automated DMARC reporting and analytics, detection of misconfigured legitimate sending sources, and detailed spoofing source information. It supports SPF and DKIM policy configuration. Integrations include Barracuda’s secure email gateway and Barracuda Sentinel, which deploys directly into Office 365 to use machine learning for advanced threat prevention.
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Pricing: Barracuda Domain Fraud Protection is available as part of Barracuda’s email protection platform for Microsoft 365. For specific pricing, contact Barracuda directly.
Who it’s for: Barracuda Domain Fraud Protection is ideal for organizations seeking a DMARC solution integrated with a comprehensive email security platform for Microsoft 365. It suits teams of all sizes looking for an easy-to-deploy and manage email security solution.
dmarcian is a DMARC SaaS platform that secures domains from email impersonation and phishing attacks by processing DMARC data. It offers detailed visibility into authentication gaps and malicious actors impersonating your domains.
Why We Picked dmarcian: We like the comprehensive dashboards that provide clear visualizations of DMARC reports, and the Domain Overview feature that gives a quick status of email domains.
dmarcian Best Features: Key features include Domain Overview for quick domain status checks, Detail Viewer for in-depth data analysis, and various DMARC tools such as a domain checker, DKIM Investigator, and a phishing scorecard. Integrations include strong partnerships with resellers and MSPs.
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Pricing: For pricing details, contact dmarcian directly.
Who it’s for: dmarcian is best suited for organizations needing detailed DMARC reports and visualizations, as well as resellers and MSPs looking for a DMARC solution for their clients.
DMARCAnalyzer is a SaaS solution that enhances email security by providing visibility and governance across email channels. It helps organizations stop email attacks and protect their brands from abuse through efficient DMARC deployment and monitoring.
Why We Picked DMARCAnalyzer: We appreciate its automated alerts and reporting, which streamline DMARC management. The solution’s automatic subdomain discovery and DNS timeline features significantly simplify the implementation of DMARC policies.
DMARCAnalyzer Best Features: Key features include aggregate DMARC reports, automated alerts and reporting, automatic subdomain discovery, and a DNS timeline. It also offers a comprehensive knowledge base and support team to assist with DMARC management. DMARCAnalyzer integrates seamlessly as a SaaS solution, facilitating easier monitoring and governance of DMARC insights.
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Pricing: For pricing details, visit DMARCAnalyzer directly.
Who it’s for: DMARCAnalyzer is ideal for mid-sized organizations and enterprises seeking to efficiently integrate and manage DMARC policies to enhance email security and brand protection.
ValiMail is a DMARC-based email security solution that protects organizations from account compromise and phishing attacks. It integrates seamlessly with cloud-based email platforms like Microsoft Office 365 and Google G Suite, simplifying setup and management.
Why We Picked ValiMail: We appreciate ValiMail’s comprehensive DMARC protection, which stops domain impersonation and phishing attacks effectively. Its integration with Office 365, including free DMARC monitoring for O365 users, makes it a valuable choice for those already using Microsoft’s platform.
ValiMail Best Features: ValiMail offers three key features: Defend, which protects inboxes from email impersonation using DMARC; Enforce, which stops phishing attacks by utilizing DMARC; and Amplify, which enhances brand identity management over email. Additional features include sender identity validation, control over email content, and management of DMARC, DKIM, and SPF records. ValiMail integrates with Office 365 and Google G Suite.
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Pricing: ValiMail’s pricing is available upon request from their website.
Who it’s for: ValiMail is best suited for organizations using Office 365 who need robust DMARC protection and those looking to manage their brand identity for email marketing campaigns.
Domain-Based Message Authentication Reporting and Conformance (DMARC) is a method of verifying the authenticity of email communication by confirming that emails are sent from legitimate domains. Its purpose is to prevent cyber-criminals from impersonating your company’s domain through email, a tactic known as domain spoofing. Email service providers, such Google and Microsoft, generate reports for all incoming emails, providing valuable information about the IP addresses used.
DMARC works by using “identifier alignment” to corroborate an email’s authenticity. In order to do this, it will use SPF and/or DKIM to decide if an email should be accepted or rejected. DMARC does not require both SPF and DKIM to return a verified identification – one approved verification is enough. By combining the two protocols, DMARC can reduce the number of false negatives – this is where a valid email is identified as being fraudulent. Simply put, DMARC gives two opportunities for an email to prove that it is genuinely from whom it appears to be.
DMARC incorporates two email authentication techniques: Sender Policy Framework (SPF) and Domain Keys Identified Mail (DKIM).
There are multiple DMARC vendors that can help organizations to gain greater insights from their DMARC reports, deploy DMARC more easily, and gain more control over DMARC policies. These tools are used by organizations of all sizes to make implementing DMARC easier, and to better manage DMARC policies and reporting. There are a number of different tools and use cases for DMARC. This includes free tools that will generate DMARC reports for your organization, and enterprise solutions that offer email visibility and governance across email channels.
Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is an email-authentication technique employed to prevent cyber-criminals from using your domain to send mass spam emails. By implementing SPF, organizations can designate authorized mail servers, which inform receiving systems about the trustworthiness of the email’s origin. SPF leverages Domain Name Service (DNS) to enable users to specify which email servers are permitted to send emails from their domains.
Domain Keys Identified Mail (DKIM) is an email authentication technique that allows recipients to verify that emails were sent and authorized by the domain owner. This safeguard helps users avoid falling victim to phishing scams that impersonate well-known email domains. DKIM assigns a digital signature to legitimate email messages, which is encrypted and attached to the emails.
Without going into the specific details of how to code for a specific DMARC policy option, it is worth explaining the options that are on offer. The protocol was designed to be easy to be implement by the registered owner of the domain – it is therefore versatile and simple to implement.
Monitoring (p=none)
This policy option is purely for monitoring email traffic and collecting data on the validation rates. This information is fed into a report for admins and domain owners to decide if their SPF and DKIM identifiers should be more specific. If an email fails the DMARC validation, there will be no remediation action; the email will be allowed to enter the intended inbox without being blocked or sent to spam. This type of policy would be used when first setting up DMARC to understand positive and false positive rates before implementing a remediation policy (this prevents too many valid emails being regarded as fraudulent and rejected).
Quarantine (p=quarantine)
With this policy enabled, any emails that fails the DMARC check will be automatically placed in the recipient’s spam folder. By quarantining the emails in this way, emails that cannot be verified will not enter the user’s main inbox, thereby reducing the risk of engaging with malicious content. Users are still able to access the emails via their spam folder, yet they will be acutely aware of the risk associated with the content of these emails.
Reject (p=reject)
Any email that fails the DMARC validation will be rejected and will not end up in the recipient’s inbox. This is the tightest level of control offered by DMARC and can further reduce the risk of your domain being used to disseminate spoofing emails. The potential downside to this policy is that any email that fails the test will be removed; this does not, however, mean that the test is always 100% accurate. It is through analysis gained from a p=none policy that admin can understand the pass/fail rates and decide if they want to enact a reject policy. If the pass/fail rate is incorrect, valid emails could automatically be rejected without the user’s knowledge. Analysis reports will still be produced whilst a p=reject policy is operational; this allows the admin to make ongoing tweaks and changes.
Percentage Tag (pct=%)
A percentage tag can be added to any of the actionable policies already listed (p=none, p=quarantine, or p=reject). For example, if a pct=25 tag is added to a p=quarantine policy, only 25% of the emails that fail the DMARC check will be quarantined. The other 75% can either be rejected or face no remediation. The benefit of this tag is that you can gradually roll out newer policies (by adjusting the percentage of emails that are affected) whilst monitoring the reject/accept rates. You can continue to monitor rejection rates, whilst shifting to more robust remediation, without the risk of many of your emails being incorrectly identified, and therefore having the wrong remediation enacted.
DMARC benefits both the domain owner and the email recipients by coordinating the methods for verifying email authenticity. Here are some of the main reasons your organization might want to consider implementing a DMARC solution:
Standardized Remediation
DMARC allows organizations to play a proactive role in deciding how failed authentications should be treated. Admins have an insight into email acceptance rates and can therefore adjust their policies and identifiers to achieve the balance between security and email acceptance.
Maintain Brand Identity
By reducing a malicious actor’s ability to impersonate your brand, you can ensure that only valid messages are associated with your company. You can be sure that any time a user thinks they are interacting with your brand, they actually are. This ensures that users are engaged and confident in responding to your emails, rather than having to worry about the risk of phishing.
Enhance DKIM And SPF
DKIM and SPF alone offer specific, but not comprehensive email authentication. For example, DKIM does not analyze the “from” domain – this is the address that will appear to the user. Just because this address appears to be from a specific domain, there are no checks, and this address can be spoofed. DMARC resolves this issue by checking that the visible domain address is the same as the domains that have already been verified as part of the DMARC checks (SPF or DKIM). This ensures that an email’s advertized identity is verified and is consistent with its origin.
The DMARC standard is based on SPF and DKIM, existing email standards. These standards were initially used to protect domains from domain spoofing, but they became increasingly easy for cyber-criminals to circumvent.
To better protect domains, DMARC combines the authentication mechanisms for SPF & DKIM. To pass DMARC validation, an email must pass either SPF authentication and alignment or DKIM authentication and alignment. If an email doesn’t fully pass one of these checks, it will fail DMARC validation.
The DMARC record is where you decide variables, like your preferred policy, which decides how your emails that fail DMARC validation will be handled. The DMARC record tells email receivers that you have implemented DMARC, and the desired policy you with you use. Once the DMARC record is implemented, you will be also be able receive reports, which we will cover in more detail in the next section. In the DNS Record, you will choose where you want the reports to be sent.
Once your DMARC Record has been set up, your ISP will provide Aggregate (RUA) and Forensic (RUG) DMARC reports daily. Here is a brief rundown of these reports:
Aggregate DMARC Reports
Aggregate reports provide information about the authentication status of emails sent by your domains. They are sent daily, in an XML file-format. These reports don’t contain any information about the emails themselves, but instead give information about who sent email messages. This includes the sender’s IP address, the number of messages sent, DKIM/SPG authentication and more. This helps you to identify if malicious emails are being sent from their domains.
Forensic DMARC Reports
Forensic DMARC reports are generated by ISPs when an email fails DMARC authentication, so it could potentially be malicious. They are more detailed than daily Aggregate Reports. The DMARC forensic reports include additional information to the aggregate reports, including information like the subject line and header information of sent emails. This also includes who the email was sent from and to, any included links and attachment information. It is also possible to see the entire email message. Forensic reports are useful for understanding your security risks and real-world issues.
Once you have set up your SPF and DKIM, you are ready to set up DMARC. To get started with DMARC, you must implement a DMARC Record. Here is a quick guide to implementing a DMARC record.
Step One) Find the business domain/domains that you wish to implement DMARC.
Find the domain with which you want to implement DMARC. If your company email address is [email protected], than your domain is yourcompany.com.
Step Two) Generate a DMARC record.
If you are using Office 365, you can find out more about setting up DMARC here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/security/office-365-security/use-dkim-to-validate-outbound-email?view=o365-worldwide
Alternatively, there are a number of DMARC tools available that allow organizations to quickly create a DMARC record. In the next section, we’ll outline some of these vendors and the approaches that they take.
Step Three) Publish the DMARC Record
To publish the DMARC record, you must publish it to the Domain Name System (DNS). Take these steps:
Step One:
Log in to the DNS management console, and select your domain.
Step Two:
Create a TXT entry on your domain with these settings:
Type: TXT Host: _DMARC TXT Value: (The DMARC record you have already generated) TTL: 1 hour
Joel Witts is the Content Director at Expert Insights, meaning he oversees all articles published and topics covered. He is an experienced journalist and writer, specialising in identity and access management, Zero Trust, cloud business technologies, and cybersecurity. Joel is a co-host of the Expert Insights Podcast and conducts regular interviews with leading B2B tech industry experts, including directors at Microsoft and Google. Joel holds a First Class Honours degree in Journalism from Cardiff University.
Craig MacAlpine is CEO and founder of Expert Insights. Before founding Expert Insights in August 2018, Craig spent 10 years as CEO of EPA cloud, an email security provider acquired by Ziff Davies, formerly J2Global (NASQAQ: ZD) in 2013, which has now been rebranded as VIPRE Email Security. Craig has extensive experience in the email security industry, with 20+ years of experience helping organizations to stay secure with innovative information security and cyber security solutions.