How to interpret DMARC reports, including sender identification and failure types?

Summary

Interpreting DMARC reports involves understanding authentication failures (SPF, DKIM), identifying legitimate sending sources versus potential spoofing, and recognizing DMARC's role in enhancing email security and deliverability. DMARC failures stem from forwarding issues, incorrect DNS records, or message alterations and may arise when one authentication method passes while another fails. Common senders include ESPs, IT services, and ticketing platforms. Analyzing aggregate reports helps monitor authentication trends and detect unauthorized sources. It is crucial to identify services sending significant mail volumes and to implement strategies to address forwarding-related SPF failures and DKIM issues. DMARC allows domain owners to instruct receivers on handling unauthenticated email, preventing phishing attacks and improving sender reputation. SPF and DKIM are foundational, ensuring sender verification and message integrity.

Key findings

  • Authentication Failures: DMARC failures result from SPF or DKIM issues due to forwarding, DNS misconfigurations, or message alterations.
  • Sender Identification: DMARC reports help identify legitimate sending sources (ESPs, IT services) and potential spoofing attempts.
  • Deliverability Impact: Properly configured DMARC policies improve email deliverability by preventing phishing and enhancing sender reputation.
  • Aggregate Reporting: Aggregate DMARC reports summarize authentication results and identify trends in sending sources.
  • Security Enhancement: DMARC allows domain owners to specify how to handle unauthenticated emails, preventing attacks.
  • SPF & DKIM Foundation: SPF and DKIM are foundational for DMARC, ensuring sender verification and message integrity.

Key considerations

  • Investigate Failures: Understand reasons for SPF/DKIM failures, addressing DNS misconfigurations or message alterations.
  • Monitor Sending Sources: Regularly verify sending sources, investigating unexpected or unknown ones.
  • Implement ARC: Implement ARC to preserve authentication through forwarding chains, preventing SPF failures.
  • Identify High-Volume Senders: Focus on identifying and validating services that send significant mail volumes.
  • Review Security Posture: Ensure a strong security posture by utilizing DMARC reports for continuous monitoring.

What email marketers say
10Marketer opinions

Interpreting DMARC reports involves understanding the reasons behind authentication failures (SPF, DKIM), identifying legitimate sending sources versus potential spoofing attempts, and recognizing how DMARC policies enhance email security and deliverability. Failures can stem from forwarding issues, misconfigured DNS records, or message alterations. DMARC is critical for preventing phishing attacks, improving sender reputation, and managing email programs effectively by allowing domain owners to instruct receivers on handling unauthenticated email. SPF and DKIM are fundamental for DMARC to function correctly, ensuring both sender verification and message integrity.

Key opinions

  • Authentication Failures: DMARC failures can result from SPF or DKIM issues due to forwarding, DNS misconfigurations, or message alterations.
  • Sender Identification: DMARC reports help identify legitimate sending sources versus potential spoofing, including ESPs, transactional services, and internal servers.
  • Deliverability Impact: Properly configured DMARC policies improve email deliverability by preventing phishing and enhancing sender reputation.
  • Security Enhancement: DMARC is crucial for specifying how receivers handle unauthenticated email, preventing phishing attacks.
  • Key Components: SPF and DKIM are foundational for DMARC, ensuring sender verification and message integrity.

Key considerations

  • Investigate Failures: Understanding the specific reasons for SPF and DKIM failures is essential for addressing the underlying issues.
  • Monitor Sending Sources: Regularly verify sending sources listed in DMARC reports to detect unauthorized senders and potential spoofing.
  • Implement ARC: Consider implementing ARC to preserve authentication information through forwarding chains, preventing SPF failures.
  • Differentiate Senders: Distinguish between different sender IP addresses in DMARC reports to ensure only authorized sources are sending emails.
  • Review DMARC Impact: Understanding DMARC's impact on email programs is critical for improving security and overall email sending practices.
Marketer view

Email marketer from Reddit explains that DMARC failures can happen due to email forwarding, which breaks SPF. Suggests implementing ARC (Authenticated Received Chain) to preserve authentication information through forwarding chains.

January 2025 - Reddit
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Security Blog explains that SPF and DKIM are foundational for DMARC. SPF verifies the sender's IP address, while DKIM ensures the message's integrity. Both protocols are necessary for DMARC to function correctly.

April 2023 - Email Security Blog
Marketer view

Email marketer from Postmark explains that DMARC plays a critical role in email security by allowing domain owners to specify how email receivers should handle unauthenticated email. This prevents phishing attacks by ensuring only authenticated email is trusted.

December 2022 - Postmark
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Geeks explains that DMARC failures can occur when one authentication method fails while another passes and can be caused by network issues or spoofing, requiring judgment calls on their severity.

February 2022 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from ZeroBounce explains that DMARC impacts deliverability by helping inbox providers identify and block fraudulent emails. Implementing DMARC correctly improves sender reputation, leading to better inbox placement.

June 2022 - ZeroBounce
Marketer view

Email marketer from SparkPost shares that identifying legitimate senders using DMARC reports involves looking at the sending sources listed and verifying if they align with known email infrastructure. Investigate any unexpected or unknown sending sources for potential spoofing.

January 2023 - SparkPost
Marketer view

Email marketer from Mailjet shares that DMARC failures can result from SPF or DKIM authentication failures. Understanding the specific failure reason is essential to identify and address the underlying issues, such as incorrect DNS records or misconfigured email sending practices.

August 2023 - Mailjet
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum shares that different sender IP addresses in DMARC reports may indicate various sending sources, including ESPs, transactional email services, and internal servers. It’s important to differentiate these to ensure only authorized sources are sending emails.

June 2021 - Email Marketing Forum
Marketer view

Email marketer from EasyDMARC shares that DMARC data can improve email deliverability by helping domain owners identify and fix authentication problems. Properly configured DMARC policies can prevent spoofing and phishing attacks, enhancing sender reputation.

July 2023 - EasyDMARC
Marketer view

Email marketer from Return Path shares that understanding DMARC is critical for managing email programs. DMARC reporting allows for identifying delivery issues and improving the overall security posture of email sending practices.

March 2023 - Return Path

What the experts say
4Expert opinions

Interpreting DMARC reports involves understanding that listed senders can range from legitimate ESPs, IT services, and ticketing platforms to spoofing attempts and failures from uncontrolled forwarding. It's crucial to identify services sending significant mail volumes to differentiate between legitimate sources and potential spoofing. Common DMARC failures occur when SPF fails due to forwarding or DKIM due to message alteration, both requiring refined authentication strategies. These reports provide insights into sender authentication status, helping domain owners assess which sources are authenticating correctly.

Key opinions

  • Sender Variety: DMARC reports list various senders, including legitimate ESPs, IT services, and potential spoofing attempts.
  • Significant Senders: Identifying services sending significant mail volumes helps distinguish legitimate sources from spoofing.
  • Common Failures: Common DMARC failures arise from SPF failing due to forwarding or DKIM failing from message alteration.
  • Authentication Insights: DMARC reports provide insights into sender authentication status, revealing which sources authenticate correctly.

Key considerations

  • Identify Sender Types: Understand the range of potential sender types listed in DMARC reports.
  • Monitor Mail Volume: Focus on identifying and validating services sending significant amounts of mail.
  • Address Forwarding Issues: Mitigate SPF failures due to forwarding, potentially using ARC.
  • Message Alteration: Address DKIM failures caused by message alteration in transit.
  • Refine Authentication: Use DMARC report insights to refine overall authentication strategies.
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks explains that it's important to identify services sending significant amounts of mail as these are often legitimate services or potential spoofing attempts.

September 2021 - Email Geeks
Expert view

Expert from SpamResource explains that DMARC reports provide insights into sender authentication status and help identify potential spoofing attempts. Examining these reports helps domain owners understand which sending sources are authenticating correctly and which are not.

November 2024 - SpamResource
Expert view

Expert from SpamResource shares that common DMARC failures arise from SPF failing due to email forwarding or DKIM failing because of message alteration in transit. Identifying these causes helps in refining authentication strategies.

August 2021 - SpamResource
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks shares that senders listed in DMARC reports can include legitimate ESPs, ticketing platforms, IT services, spoofing attempts, or random DMARC failures from uncontrolled email forwarding.

December 2022 - Email Geeks

What the documentation says
4Technical articles

DMARC reports are essential for identifying email sources, troubleshooting authentication issues, and monitoring all email channels for a domain. These reports help reveal whether emails are properly authenticated, highlight potential spoofing attempts, and provide a summary of authentication results over time. Analyzing failure reports is crucial for understanding why emails fail authentication, with common issues including SPF failures due to forwarding and DKIM failures due to message modifications. Regular analysis helps detect unauthorized sources and ensures compliance with security policies.

Key findings

  • Mail Source Identification: DMARC reports help identify email sources and potential authentication issues.
  • Spoofing Detection: Reviewing reports reveals unauthorized senders attempting to spoof the domain.
  • Authentication Summary: Aggregate DMARC reports summarize email authentication results over a period.
  • Troubleshooting Failures: Analyzing failure reports helps troubleshoot DMARC implementation, revealing causes of authentication failures.
  • Channel Monitoring: DMARC can monitor all email channels sending on behalf of a domain.

Key considerations

  • Regular Analysis: Regularly analyze DMARC reports to detect unauthorized sources and potential spoofing attempts.
  • Address SPF Failures: Investigate and address SPF failures caused by email forwarding.
  • Resolve DKIM Issues: Identify and resolve DKIM failures due to modifications in transit.
  • Monitor Authentication Trends: Use aggregate reports to identify trends in sending sources and authentication rates.
  • Ensure Compliance: Ensure ongoing compliance with security policies through DMARC monitoring.
Technical article

Documentation from Valimail explains that DMARC can be used to monitor all email channels sending on behalf of your domain. By regularly analyzing DMARC reports, you can detect unauthorized sources and ensure compliance with security policies.

October 2022 - Valimail
Technical article

Documentation from Google Workspace Admin Help explains that DMARC reports help identify mail sources and potential authentication issues. Reviewing the reports can reveal whether emails are properly authenticated and if unauthorized senders are attempting to spoof the domain.

August 2021 - Google Workspace Admin Help
Technical article

Documentation from Microsoft explains that to troubleshoot DMARC, you need to analyze failure reports to see why emails are failing authentication checks. Common issues include SPF failing due to forwarding or DKIM failing due to modifications in transit.

June 2023 - Microsoft
Technical article

Documentation from DMARC.org explains that aggregate DMARC reports provide a summary of email authentication results over a period. These reports help identify trends in email sending sources, authentication rates, and potential misuse of the domain.

September 2023 - DMARC.org