DMARC: Threat intelligence and alerting

Sendmarc enables organizations to leverage threat intelligence and alerts with ease. Our platform delivers automated threat detection, real-time monitoring, and instant alerts that simplify email security management.

By transforming complex Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) data into clear, actionable insights, Sendmarc helps businesses protect their domains from spoofing, phishing, and impersonation attacks before these cyberthreats impact operations.

Secure your company’s email and strengthen its trustworthiness.

What is threat intelligence?

Threat intelligence is the process of collecting, analyzing, and acting on information about potential cyberthreats that could harm an organization. The data helps security teams understand the tactics used by cybercriminals, enabling proactive defense and faster incident response.

In the context of DMARC, threat intelligence involves analyzing data from receivers of email to identify unauthorized senders and spoofing attempts targeting a domain. This intelligence is critical because attackers often impersonate trusted domains to trick recipients into sharing sensitive information or installing malware.

Why is DMARC important for intelligence?

DMARC is an email authentication protocol that builds on Sender Policy Framework (SPF) and DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) to verify that incoming emails are legitimately sent from a business’s domain. When properly implemented, DMARC helps prevent cybercriminals from spoofing a domain.

DMARC’s value goes beyond authentication. It generates two types of reports:

Aggregate reports

Summarizes email authentication results across recipients, showing how many emails passed or failed SPF and DKIM checks.

Forensic reports

Provides detailed information about individual authentication failures, including message headers and sending IP addresses.

These reports are a valuable source of intelligence.

By analyzing them, companies can:

  • Detect unauthorized use of their domain
  • Identify malicious IP addresses attempting to spoof
  • Gain insights into phishing campaigns targeting their brand

How DMARC works

StepDescription
1. Publish SPF and DKIM recordsDefine which email servers are authorized to send emails on behalf of the domain
2. Publish DMARC policySet a policy to instruct recipient servers how to handle unauthenticated emails (none, quarantine, reject)
3. Receive reportsCollect aggregate and forensic reports from recipient servers detailing authentication results
4. Analyze reportsUse threat intelligence tools built into the Sendmarc platform to interpret data, identify threats, and adjust policies accordingly
5. Enforce policyGradually move from monitoring (none) to enforcement (quarantine or reject) to defend against spoofing

Benefits of threat intelligence for email security

Implementing an intelligence and alerting system offers multiple benefits:

1. Early detection of email threats

A threat intelligence platform enables organizations to detect spoofing and phishing attempts shortly after they occur. Also, by analyzing DMARC reports, businesses can identify unauthorized senders attempting to impersonate their domain, sometimes before recipients are affected.

2. Faster incident response

With real-time alerts and detailed data, security teams can investigate suspicious activity promptly. This accelerates the containment of phishing attacks and reduces the risk of data breaches.

3. Enhanced brand protection

Phishing attacks that spoof a domain can damage a brand’s reputation and affect customer trust. An intelligence platform helps companies proactively defend their brand by identifying impersonation attempts.

Sendmarc’s threat intelligence platform

Sendmarc offers a powerful, user-friendly intelligence platform. The platform combines advanced DMARC analytics with real-time alerting to provide visibility and control over an organization’s email environment.

Key features

Real-time intelligence and alerting

Receive instant notifications when suspicious or unauthorized email activity is detected. This enables security teams to act quickly and prevent phishing attacks.

Comprehensive DMARC reporting and analytics

Visual dashboards and detailed reports simplify the interpretation of complex DMARC data, highlighting trends, irregularities, and potential threats.

Automated policy management

Easily configure and enforce DMARC, SPF, DKIM, Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI), Mail Transfer Agent Strict Transport Security (MTA-STS), and Transport Layer Security Reporting (TLS-RPT) from a single interface, reducing manual errors and saving time.

SPF optimization

Avoid DNS lookup limits with SPF flattening and optimization features to ensure that SPF records remain accurate and efficient.

Seamless integration

Sendmarc’s API-first platform integrates smoothly with existing systems, enabling centralized threat monitoring and response.

Use cases

Protecting against phishing and spoofing

Detect and block unauthorized senders impersonating a domain

Improving email deliverability

Identify legitimate sources and optimize authentication to improve inbox placement

Incident investigation

Access detailed reports to analyze and respond to suspicious email activity

Sendmarc’s intelligence and alerting platform empowers businesses to detect, analyze, and respond to email-based threats in real time, protecting their domain, customers, and brand.

Sign up with Sendmarc today and start leveraging advanced intelligence and alerting to safeguard your company from phishing and spoofing attacks.

Threat intelligence FAQs

What is threat intelligence?

Threat intelligence is the process of gathering, analyzing, and acting on information about cyberthreats. It helps organizations understand and defend against cyberattacks.

A threat intelligence platform is a tool that automates the collection, analysis, and reporting of threat data. Some platforms also provide actionable insights and alerts to security teams.

Performing threat intelligence involves collecting relevant data, such as Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) reports. It then requires data analysis to identify suspicious patterns and take proactive measures to defend against identified threats.

The five stages of threat intelligence are:

  1. Planning and direction: Defining intelligence requirements and objectives
  2. Collection: Gathering raw data from various sources
  3. Processing: Organizing and filtering data for analysis
  4. Analysis: Interpreting data to produce actionable insights
  5. Dissemination: Sharing intelligence with stakeholders for informed decision-making