Analyzing aggregate and forensic reports generated by the Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance (DMARC) protocol is essential for understanding an organization’s email authentication ecosystem. These reports provide crucial feedback on email deliverability, sender reputation, and potential abuse of an organization’s domain. For example, reviewing these reports allows identifying legitimate email sources that might not be properly authenticated, thus hindering their delivery to recipients’ inboxes.
The information gleaned from these reports is vital for ensuring legitimate email reaches its intended audience and for proactively mitigating phishing attacks and email spoofing. By monitoring DMARC reports, organizations gain visibility into how their domain is being used and can identify and address any unauthorized use. This contributes to improved brand reputation, increased customer trust, and a more secure email environment overall. Historically, the increasing sophistication of email-based attacks has highlighted the need for organizations to actively manage and monitor their email authentication practices.