Many businesses struggle with email deliverability and for a good reason. It’s estimated that about 20% of marketing emails never get delivered, which can be a huge setback for any company. Various factors can contribute to this issue, but email authentication is one of the most important. With the right strategies, you can enhance email deliverability, protect your brand, and improve your email security. DMARC and DKIM are email authentication protocols that can help you do that. This article will help you understand DMARC vs DKIM so you can implement them to get your emails where they need to go: the inbox delivery.

Inframail’s email infrastructure solution can help you successfully implement email authentication strategies like DMARC and DKIM. With Inframail, you can protect your emails from fraud, boost deliverability, and secure email communications.

Table of Content

• What are DKIM and DMARC?

• Comparative DMARC vs. DKIM Analysis for Email Deliverability

• Best Practices for Optimizing Email Authentication with DKIM and DMARC

• Start Buying Domains Now and Setup Your Email Infrastructure Today

What are DKIM and DMARC?

DKIM stands for Domain Keys Identified Mail, a protocol for email authentication that allows recipients to verify whether an email was sent and authorized by the domain owner. In other words, DKIM will enable organizations to take ownership of the emails sent through their domains by giving them a digital signature that mailbox providers can easily demarcate. 

DKIM detects phishing emails from genuine ones, and DKIM signatures are used as the primary means of verification. The DKIM signature is typically added as a message header and secured with cryptographic encryption. 

How DKIM Works Behind the Scenes to Secure Email Communication

The DKIM signature is usually invisible to end-users or email recipients and mainly functions on a server level. The receiving server identifies whether an email is signed with the DKIM signature of the organization whose domain name is used. Once the verification is done, the email with all its constituent messages and attachments is forwarded to the end user’s mailbox. 

The Evolution of DKIM: How Its Origins Have Shaped Email Authentication and Deliverability

Domain Keys Identified Mail began in 2004 as a merger of two existing technologies – enhanced DomainKeys from Yahoo and Identified Internet Mail from Cisco. This new technology eventually became a widely adopted email authentication technique. DKIM is a testament to the integrity of a message’s content and verifies that its contents have not been changed in transmission. In addition, it decreases the chances of emails not being delivered, a problem that has cost companies many loyal customers.

What are DKIM Keys?

DKIM uses public-key cryptography to detect forgeries in emails and verify whether a message was sent from a legitimate mail server. The DKIM keys help spot spam and malware-embedded emails. DKIM involves generating a pair of private and public encryption keys for each server. 

While the private key is allotted to the sender’s server, the public key is placed on the domain owner’s DNS zone file to form an exceptional TXT record. The private key helps the sender’s server generate the required DKIM headers for outgoing client emails. The public key, on the other hand, verifies the sender’s authenticity.

How Does DKIM Work? 

DKIM adds digital signatures to email message headers, which are validated against public cryptographic keys in the organizational Domain Name System (DNS) records. 

The following steps are involved in the process:

1. Any outbound mail server sending an email generates a unique DKIM signature that is attached as a message header.

2. Inbound mail servers receiving these incoming emails scan the sender’s public DKIM keys in the DNS.

3. The inbound server decrypts the signature and compares it with a newly generated one using this public key.

4. If both values match, the message is considered authentic and unaltered.

DMARC: The Email Authentication Protocol That Helps Domain Owners Prevent Spoofing Attacks

DMARC is an email authentication policy and reporting protocol that helps organizations protect their email domains from spoofed attacks. This chapter will teach you how DMARC works and why it is essential for email security.

Introduction to DMARC

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) is a security protocol to identify and authenticate email senders. It was created in 2012 by a group of email administrators, security professionals, and industry leaders as a technical specification for email authentication. 

DMARC allows email senders to create a policy that specifies how receiving email servers should handle their emails. It helps the recipients know that your emails are genuine.

How DMARC Works

DMARC allows organizations to specify what action they want to take if a fraudulent email is detected in their name, such as rejecting or quarantining it. DMARC also allows organizations to collect data on all emails sent to their domain to help them determine if any of them are fraudulent.

DMARC is another authentication protocol businesses employ for email security, such as Sender Policy Framework (SPF) and DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM). DMARC enables organizations to set up rules concerning recipients’ actions when sending emails. The most basic rule is called the SPF Box Rule. 

When enabled, this rule will identify senders of emails not associated with the domain name. You can set up other controls to help classify the type of email sent to help people avoid accidentally sending emails to the wrong address or filtering spam.

How DMARC Acts as an Email Security Tool

Malicious actors and adversaries continue to find new ways to send fraudulent emails from trusted domains, creating a bad brand reputation. Email authentication techniques like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC can help you protect your domain from being used by spammers to send fraudulent emails. 

Leveraging DMARC Reporting for Enhanced Security and Fraud Prevention

Apart from protecting your domain from misuse by spammers, email authentication methods like DMARC help prevent C-level frauds like BEC (Business Email Compromise) and whaling attacks.

One helpful functionality that DMARC provides, besides spam email protection, is a reporting feature. With reporting, businesses can get detailed insights into who uses their domain to send emails.

Are There Any Downsides to Using DMARC?

DMARC is a valuable tool that can help protect your email from spoofing, but it has some limitations. One such factor is that DMARC only applies to email messages sent from your domain. If someone else sends an email message on your behalf, DMARC will not protect it. Besides, DMARC does not work with email messages sent through third-party services, such as Gmail or Yahoo! Mail.

Related Reading

• Why Are My Emails Going To Spam
• Email Deliverability Rate
• Email Monitoring
• Email Deliverability Issues
• Email Quality Score
• Bounce Rate in Email Marketing
• How To Avoid Email Going To Spam
• Why Do Emails Bounce
• SPF or DKIM
• How To Check If Your Emails Are Going To Spam
• Email Sender Reputation

Comparative DMARC vs. DKIM Analysis for Email Deliverability

The main difference between DKIM and DMARC is that one is a security protocol and a security strategy. DKIM is a process of verification that determines whether emails are coming from a verifiable and trustworthy source. This is a protocol that can only detect whether an email is insecure or not. It cannot decide what to do with the email from there. 

How DMARC and DKIM Work Together to Strengthen Email Security

DMARC is a security strategy that determines what to do with emails that pass or fail DKIM verification. This system adds to the information received from DKIM verification to decide what emails to reject and what ones to let go through. 

These processes work together to improve email security by crafting a layered system that detects insecurities and follows a plan for dealing with them, whether this is to reject them from sending or just to label them as suspicious in your recipient’s mailbox. 

What’s the Difference Between DKIM and DMARC?

DKIM and DMARC do very different things that complement each other in the closed echo chamber of a single domain. While it’s true that both DKIM and DMARC rely on the use of cryptographic keys to authenticate legitimate senders, that’s where all similarities stop. 

Here are some key differences between DKIM and DMARC: 

DMARC 

• Generates a report each time a message fails authentication. 

• You see when a receiving server verifies your domain and marks the message as legitimate on each report. 

DKIM 

• Uses digital signatures to verify legitimate senders. 

• Is solely an authentication method, while DMARC generates aggregate reports to help fine-tune your email strategy. 

• It allows receiving servers to verify the digital signature on all your emails.

Implementing DKIM and DMARC for Enhanced Email Security

Setting up DKIM is easy if you adhere to the following steps. 

1. You need to get a key pair. This will ensure that no one can copy your email signature. 

2. One public key will be added to DNS records, and one private key will be kept safe and secure on the email service provider server. These keys will work together to authenticate and verify emails. 

3. The email provider you use will determine how you can access these keys. Usually, this involves requesting DKIM keys in your account settings or contacting your provider directly. Remember to choose an email service provider that explicitly supports DKIM security. Not all do. 

4. Once you have your keys, you can publish your public key on the DNS server utilizing DNS TXT records. You must follow the format “[selector]._domainkey.[domain]” 

5. The selector will be your public key. As for the private key, your email service provider will usually add this to their servers without you having to do anything. 

Crafting and Deploying a DMARC Policy

The first step you need to take when creating your DMARC policy is to decide the level of enforcement you want to deploy on emails that fail verification. A sample DMARC record will look something like this: 

v=DMARC1; p=quarantine; rua=unspam:emailsecurity@example.com

Understanding DMARC Enforcement Levels: Choosing Between None, Quarantine, and Reject

You can change the “p=” tag to determine your level of enforcement. P=none would send you a record of the failed verification but still send the email. P=quarantine would still send the email but mark it as spam, so the recipient would need to look in their spam folder to find it. 

The harshest level of enforcement, p=reject, automatically refuses to send the email if it fails DMARC or SPF authentication processes. The first tag, “v=DMARC1” always stays the same, and the last tag, “rua=,” simply describes the email address to which you would like your DMARC report sent. 

Can DKIM Function Without DMARC?

The short answer is yes. With DKIM, your email server applies a digital signature to all outgoing messages, proving that your emails originate from you. The receiving server verifies the digital signature using the matching public key in your DKIM record. DKIM allows you to sign every email you send digitally. 

This identifier won’t be present on fraudulent emails. If a malicious sender spoofs your domain in a fake email, the receiving server will reject it (since it won’t have a valid DKIM signature). 

Related Reading

• Importance Of DMARC
• What Is a Soft Bounce Email
• Email Deliverability Checklist
• What Affects Email Deliverability
• Why Is Email Deliverability Important
• Email Bounce Rate
• Fix Email Reputation
• Improve Sender Reputation
• Email Hard Bounce
• Email Deliverability Tools
• Email Deliverability Best Practices
• Best Email Domains

Best Practices for Optimizing Email Authentication with DKIM and DMARC

Several key steps should be kept in mind when implementing DKIM effectively. Ensure you regularly rotate out your key pairs to avoid potential cyberattacks that pry on unchanging keys. Ensure you have followed your email service provider’s steps to implement your keys. 

You can only sometimes assume that they will implement the public key for you, even though most providers will. Always maintain your email security by testing your system for possible insecurities and updating your email authentication strategy accordingly.  

Establishing Your DMARC Policy: A Critical Step for Email Security

Implementing an effective DMARC strategy requires proactiveness and following best practices. Make sure that your plan follows your brand’s specific requirements. Not all companies need to reject all suspicious emails without reviewing them, while some may find this necessary. 

Always ensure that your security outside of your emails is as secure as it is within. This means using unique passwords for everything you use, never sharing private information on public Wi-Fi, and keeping your website safe.  

Related Reading

• Email Monitoring Software
• Soft Bounce Reasons
• Check Email Deliverability Score
• Soft Bounce vs Hard Bounce Email
• SalesHandy Alternatives
• GlockApps Alternative
• MailGenius Alternative
• MxToolbox Alternative
• Maildoso Alternatives

Start Buying Domains Now and Setup Your Email Infrastructure Today

Cold emails are a great way to reach prospects and nurture them until they are ready to buy. But it’s essential to understand the process first. If you send cold emails without knowing how to do it right, you may get flagged as a spammer. 

This will hurt your business’s reputation and ruin your chances of reaching your prospects. Even worse, recovering from such damage can take a long time. 

Inframail is an email delivery service that helps you avoid the spam folder when sending cold emails by establishing solid email deliverability from the start.  

How Inframail Works

Inframail revolutionizes cold email infrastructure with unlimited inboxes at a single flat rate. We provide: 

• Microsoft-backed deliverability

• Dedicated IP addresses

• Automated technical setup 

It scales its cold email outreach efforts efficiently:

• Agencies

• Recruiters

• SDRs  

The main benefits of using our service: 

• Automated SPF, DKIM, and DMARC setup

• Dedicated email servers for each user

• 16-hour priority support daily

Unlike traditional providers that charge per inbox and leave you wrestling with technical configurations, Inframail streamlines the entire process. We handle the complex infrastructure setup while you focus on reaching more prospects. 

InfraMail provides a robust email infrastructure without the usual technical headaches and per-inbox costs, whether: 

• You're an agency looking to scale outreach

• A recruiter connecting with candidates

• An SDR driving sales

Start buying domains now and set up your email infrastructure today with our email infrastructure tool.