What should I do if my email domain gets spoofed?
Summary
What email marketers say7Marketer opinions
Email marketer from StackExchange states that using online SPF record validators can help ensure your SPF record is correctly formatted and includes all authorized sending sources. Correct SPF setup prevents spoofers from using unauthorized servers.
Email marketer from Proofpoint shares that domain spoofing can be mitigated by implementing a combination of technical controls and user education. Technical controls like DMARC policies can prevent unauthorized use of the domain, while training employees to identify phishing attempts reduces the risk of internal compromise.
Email marketer from Mailjet shares that setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records is crucial to protect against domain spoofing. It validates the authenticity of your emails and tells receiving servers what to do with unauthenticated messages, preventing spoofers from using your domain.
Email marketer from Cloudflare mentions that regularly monitoring your domain's email authentication reports (DMARC reports) is essential. These reports provide insights into who is sending emails using your domain and whether they are passing authentication checks, allowing you to identify and address potential spoofing attempts.
Email marketer from Reddit suggests to set DMARC to 'reject' if you're confident your email setup is correct. If you're not sure, start with 'quarantine' to monitor the impact without blocking legitimate emails.
Email marketer from Reddit suggests checking your domain's reputation using Google Postmaster Tools to identify any suspicious activity or deliverability issues. Monitoring your sender reputation helps detect if your domain is being misused for spoofing attacks.
Email marketer from Email Security Forum explains to educate your users to recognize spoofed emails. Regularly inform your employees about the signs of phishing and spoofing attempts, such as unusual requests, mismatched sender addresses, and poor grammar, to reduce the risk of successful attacks.
What the experts say4Expert opinions
Expert from Spam Resource explains that actively monitoring your domain for unauthorized email sending is crucial. Implement systems to track email authentication failures and unauthorized use of your domain to quickly identify and address spoofing attempts.
Expert from Email Geeks says not to worry too much about the domain being spoofed, as it won't cause blocking at reputable places. He suggests focusing on actual delivery issues like complaints, bounces, or drops in open rates at consumer ISPs rather than blacklists from sites with unrealistic policies.
Expert from Email Geeks advises against adjusting the DMARC policy while addressing other issues or making changes. Recommends monitoring metrics and holding off on DMARC adjustments. Also mentions MXToolbox making issues seem bigger than they are.
Expert from Word to the Wise suggests using DMARC failure reports to investigate the sources of spoofed email. Analyzing these reports can help you identify unauthorized senders and improve your email authentication configuration.
What the documentation says3Technical articles
Documentation from RFC explains that implementing an SPF record will allow you to specify which mail servers are authorized to send email on behalf of your domain. This helps receivers verify that incoming mail from your domain is not spoofed.
Documentation from Microsoft details that spoofed emails are deceptive messages where the 'From' address is forged. It recommends using Exchange Online Protection (EOP) and Defender for Office 365 to filter out these messages by using anti-phishing policies and spoof intelligence.
Documentation from Google explains that implementing DMARC helps prevent spoofing by allowing domain owners to specify how email receivers should handle messages that fail authentication checks (SPF and DKIM). A strong DMARC policy can help protect your domain's reputation.