DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) is an email authentication protocol that is used to protect email senders and receivers from phishing and spoofed emails. DMARC works by allowing domain owners to publish policies in their DNS records which indicate which email servers are authorized to send messages from their domain.
When an email is sent, the recipient’s email server checks the DMARC policy published in the sender’s DNS record. If the email passes DMARC authentication checks, it is considered authentic and delivered to the recipient’s inbox. However, if it fails, the email server can take actions based on the DMARC policy, such as rejecting or quarantining the message, or sending a report to the domain owner.
DMARC works by combining two other email authentication technologies: SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail). SPF verifies that the sending email server is authorized to send emails from the domain, while DKIM allows the recipient’s email server to verify that the message has not been altered in transit.
Overall, DMARC provides an additional layer of protection against email phishing, spoofing, and other fraudulent activity by requiring strict authentication and ensuring that the message comes from an authorized source.
