Imagine this: a trusted customer receives an email from what appears to be your company. It looks legitimate. It sounds like you. But it’s not you. It’s a cybercriminal impersonating your domain, asking for payment or sensitive data – and they’re convincing enough to succeed.
That’s the kind of risk every business faces without a set of simple settings known as DMARC.
What is DMARC?
DMARC, which stands for Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance, is an email security protocol that helps protect your domain from being used in phishing and spoofing attacks.
In simple terms, it tells receiving email servers how to handle messages that claim to come from your domain but fail certain security checks. It works alongside two other tools – SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) – to verify that emails are genuinely from you and haven’t been tampered with. By setting up a DMARC policy, businesses can prevent fraudulent emails from reaching clients, suppliers, or staff, while also gaining visibility into how their domain is being used.
Why does it matter?
Without DMARC policies in place, your business is vulnerable to:
- Financial fraud: We’ve seen real-world cases where law firms have had their email addresses faked, and payment instructions were changed, costing clients tens of thousands of pounds.
- Security breaches: Fraudsters can impersonate staff to trick IT departments into handing over sensitive access.
- Reputational damage: Once clients or partners lose trust in your communication, rebuilding that trust is difficult – and costly.
But it’s not just about protection. DMARC (along with related tools like SPF and DKIM) also helps with email deliverability – making sure your legitimate emails land in inboxes rather than being flagged as spam or going missing entirely.
What to do next
We’re happy to check if you have DMARC set up on your domain, free of charge. Get in touch to find out your organisation’s status and we’ll discuss your options in more detail.
Adding a DMARC policy to your domain is a practical and manageable step that greatly reduces your risk. Even if we’re not your current IT provider, we’re happy to work with whoever is to set DMARC up.
If you’re unsure where to begin or want help understanding what this means for your business, we’re always here to talk it through.
Protecting your business doesn’t have to start with a crisis. Sometimes it starts with a conversation. Get in touch with the team to find out more about DMARC.