What are common confusions in email authentication and DMARC reporting?
Summary
What email marketers say11Marketer opinions
Email marketer from MXToolbox explains that interpreting the reasons for DMARC failures, such as SPF SoftFail or DKIM signature mismatch, is a common point of confusion. Determining the root cause requires careful analysis of the reports.
Email marketer from StackOverflow shares that users often struggle with setting up separate DMARC records for subdomains and delegating sending authority correctly.
Email marketer from Email Geeks explains that while an email may pass authentication, it likely won't pass alignment, which is required for DMARC pass.
Email marketer from LinkedIn shares that not implementing DMARC correctly or misinterpreting reports can lead to deliverability issues, such as emails landing in the spam folder or being blocked altogether.
Email marketer from EmailVendorSelection explains that after setting up SPF, DKIM and DMARC is that DNS propagation times are a common source of confusion. The updates aren't instant so changes can take up to 48 hours to update correctly.
Email marketer from Mailhardener Blog explains that a common confusion is the complexity of setting up DMARC, especially understanding the different policies (none, quarantine, reject) and their implications.
Email marketer from EasyDMARC Blog shares that many users are confused by DMARC aggregate reports and forensic reports. Understanding how to interpret these reports to identify authentication failures and potential spoofing attempts is a challenge.
Email marketer from Postmark explains that many users confuse SPF and DKIM, not understanding that SPF authenticates the sending server, while DKIM authenticates the message content. Both are needed for robust authentication.
Email marketer from Email Geeks shares that headers can be confusing for someone not in the email world.
Email marketer from Reddit explains that a common issue is when emails are forwarded, SPF breaks because the forwarding server isn't authorized in the original SPF record. This leads to authentication failures.
Email marketer from Email Geeks thinks the writer of the KB is conflating “pass” and “align”.
What the experts say3Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks states that the reporting is confusing. Nothing in that “evaluated” section makes much sense.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that a common confusion is thinking DMARC is a one-time setup. Ongoing monitoring and adjustments are needed as email infrastructure and sending practices evolve. For example: Adjusting your SPF records or DNS records.
Expert from Spam Resource explains that understanding DMARC aggregate reports is difficult because they are large XML files that require parsing and analysis to extract useful information about authentication failures and potential abuse. Many struggle to interpret these reports effectively.
What the documentation says5Technical articles
Documentation from Google explains that a frequent misunderstanding involves SPF's 10 DNS lookup limit. Exceeding this limit can cause SPF checks to fail, impacting deliverability.
Documentation from RFC Editor explains that a frequent source of confusion is the correct syntax for DMARC records. Incorrect tag values or missing semicolons can cause the record to be ignored.
Documentation from DMARC.org explains that many people misunderstand the 'p=none' policy, thinking it provides protection. In reality, it only gathers data and doesn't actively reject or quarantine emails.
Documentation from Microsoft explains that a common confusion is how to properly rotate DKIM keys. Forgetting to update the DNS record with the new public key after generating a new key pair is a frequent mistake.
Documentation from AuthSMTP, explains that implementing all three of SPF, DKIM and DMARC is essential but commonly incorrectly configured or managed. The site goes on to explain some common issues and configurations that lead to these misconfigurations.