DNS stands for “Domain Name System”. These databases act as the “Brains” of domain names.
DNS hosts include Domain Name Registrars (e.g. GoDaddy), Hosting Provider (e.g. AWS), or Security Service (e.g. Cloudflare, Mimecast, Proofpoint). DNS can be hosted on private servers.
A Chart of the DNS ecosystem from http://www.eitc.org
Why is DNS Management Important?
DNS (Domain Name System) is the foundation of the internet and is responsible for translating domain names into IP addresses. DNS is the backbone of your organization’s online infrastructure. An entire email campaign can fail due to 1 misconfigured record in the domain’s settings.
Email Authentication🛂📥
What is authentication?
Authentication as a digital ID card for emails; confirming messages are from the authentic sender. It helps emails reach more inboxes and builds confidence with ISPs and recipients.
Authentication helps people trust the emails they receive and makes everyone’s day-to-day experience safer by reducing the chances of phishing, fraud, and spam.
Using the right email authentication practices improves trust and security, which leads to better overall recipient engagement.
Improving Trust
Sender’s Identity: When someone sends you an email, their email service uses authentication techniques to verify that they are who they say they are.
Protection from Spoofing: It helps prevent scammers and spammers from pretending to be someone they’re not. Email authentication helps spot the imposters.
Message Integrity: Email authentication verifies that a middleman hasn’t changed the content of an email during its journey to the inbox.
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1. SPF
(Sender Policy Framework) is an email authentication method that helps prevent email spoofing and fraud by verifying that an email message was sent from an authorized server.
SPF works by allowing domain owners to specify which servers are allowed to send email on behalf of their domain.
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2. DKIM
DomainKeys Identified Mail is an email authentication method that helps verify the authenticity of emails sent from a particular domain.
A DKIM record is a piece of text that’s added to the DNS (Domain Name System) settings of a domain. This text contains a signature that helps verify that the email was actually sent by the domain it claims to be from.
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3. DMARC
Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance is an email authentication method that helps prevent email fraud and abuse by providing a way for email receivers to determine if a given message is authentic or not.
DMARC works by allowing domain owners to specify which email authentication methods (such as SPF and DKIM) are used by their domain, and what action should be taken if an email fails authentication checks