DMARC

DMARC stands for Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance. DMARC is a mechanism that allows senders and receivers to monitor and improve protection of their domain from fraudulent email. Implementation of DMARC will ensure mail recipients can detect when spammers have spoofed the “From” address on mail messages. 

There is growing support for DMARC. In June 2016, the U.K. government mandated that all U.K. government departments adopt DMARC, and the CERT-EU has also made a recommendation for the use of DMARC. In October 2017, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued Binding Operational Directive 18-01, which requires the adoption of DMARC by federal civilian domains. 

The governments of the Netherlands and New Zealand followed suit in 2018, and in 2019 Australia did as well.

In 2020, Denmark required all authorities to implement a DMARC policy of ‘reject’ on all domains they own.  Canada also released its Implementation Guidance on email domain protection

GCA discovered, however, that despite the tremendous benefits of DMARC, it was not being widely deployed in the public or private sectors. We wanted to provide guidance for any organization or user to implement DMARC. So GCA assembled these resources about DMARC and a step-by-step DMARC Setup Guide, available in 18 languages, to help organizations of all sizes implement DMARC. 

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The Value

GCA recognized the value of DMARC and the need for a way to implement it on a broad scale. As a nonprofit startup, we needed a cost-effective way to do it, so we developed the Domain Security Scanner. This tool can scan hundreds of domains at one time to allow an organization to assess the DMARC implementation of their own domains, subcontractors, and other partners. This enables an organization to better understand, and act upon, the risk imposed on it by its partners who have not implemented DMARC.

Get the scanner so you can better understand what email security protections are in place for your organization and partners.

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GCA Measuring the Impact of DMARC's Part in Preventing Business Email Compromise Cover

Measuring the Economic Impact of DMARC

In just a few short years, GCA’s DMARC initiative has resulted in more than 5,700 organizations across more than 180 countries adopting DMARC. This has led to estimated financial benefits of more than $19 Million USD in 2018 across a diverse array of industries and governments. Learn about the full economic benefits of GCA’s DMARC initiative in our impact report.