Organizations have a responsibility to protect their customers and stakeholders from phishing, impersonation, and other forms of fraud. To do this, many organizations have adopted the Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance (DMARC) protocol.
DMARC is an important tool for protecting online communication, and one of its key features is the DMARC Aggregate Report. DMARC Aggregate Reports are essential for monitoring the health and success of your organization's implementations of the DMARC protocol, and provide detail into the effectiveness of your DMARC policies. For more information on DMARC aggregate reports, visit duocircle.com.
What are DMARC aggregate reports?
DMARC aggregate reports are files in the XML format that contain aggregate email authentication information sent by Email Service Providers (ESP), such as Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and Microsoft Office 365, to recipients designated by domain owners.
The aggregate reports for DMARC aggregate provide information about percentages of mail failing SPF, DKIM, and DMARC checks.
DMARC aggregate reports can give you valuable insights into the health of your email program, identifying authentication issues, as well as possible malicious activity.
How to parse a DMARC aggregate report
DMARC aggregate reports are encoded in the XML format, which is a common format for data to be easily processed by computer systems, but takes longer for humans to interpret.
Receiving DMARC aggregate reports
DMARC aggregate reports can be automatically generated by submitting a DMARC record into the DNS with the rua tag for the recipient's email.
Once you have set the rua tag for the DMARC record published to the mailbox you have uploaded since, you will begin receiving DMARC aggregate reports. These reports will be sent daily, so you should have them approximately two days after you've filed the DMARC report.
Reading DMARC aggregate reports
XML format is standard for raw reports, which may contain objects that consist of metadata and one or many records. The highest priority information present in your raw reports is whether messages from your domain have passed DMARC.
It can be challenging to read and interpret your reports in raw format. It is recommended to use a third-party service that specializes in DMARC to receive, store, and analyze your reports.
- Depending on your mailing volume, you can receive reports from several different servers each day, even into the hundreds. Many factors influence the number of reports you receive, including the number servers you use, the amount of mail you send, and the reporting methods specified by your DMARC policy record.
- You'll need to set up a separate Group or mailbox in order to receive and store the reports from a third-party service.
- Third-party services can combine individual reports.
- Outside specialists who are experts in DMARC evaluation can take a look at aggregated reports, and give you feedback on how effective your DMARC record is.
The summary for each record includes:
- The number of messages sent from a single IP address for the report time period.
- SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentication results for the messages.
- The receiving server may accept unauthenticated messages if they passed ARC authentication.
Benefits of Reading DMARC aggregate reports
Reading DMARC aggregate reports enables you to keep track of who composes messages in your email account, disable rumored senders, and most importantly, reach DMARC verification. DMARC regulation does not fully solve your problems but allows you to implement DMARC, which is an added layer of security.
Your reach out to your community may seem small, but including your company's logo in your signature line can help build a positive relationship with your audience and increase the credibility of your email.
Considering all this, DMARC Aggregate Reports are a valuable tool for organizations looking to secure their email systems. By providing a detailed analysis of all emails sent, received, and processed, these reports can help organizations identify malicious emails, spot patterns in their email traffic, and create policies to ensure their email systems remain secure.
DMARC Aggregate Reports can also be used to comply with data privacy regulations, giving organizations peace of mind that their emails are secure and compliant.