DMARC: Threat intelligence and alerting
Sendmarc’s platform turns raw DMARC reports into real-time threat alerts and actionable insights. With automated detection, continuous monitoring, and instant notifications, Sendmarc helps your company detect spoofing and phishing attempts before they cause damage.
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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
| Step | Description |
|---|---|
| 1. Publish SPF and DKIM records | Define which email servers are authorized to send emails on behalf of the domain |
| 2. Publish DMARC policy | Set a policy to instruct recipient servers how to handle unauthenticated emails (none, quarantine, reject) |
| 3. Receive reports | Collect aggregate and forensic reports from recipient servers detailing authentication results |
| 4. Analyze reports | Use threat intelligence tools built into the Sendmarc platform to interpret data, identify threats, and adjust policies accordingly |
| 5. Enforce policy | Gradually 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.
What is a threat intelligence platform?
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.
How do I perform threat intelligence?
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.
What are the five stages of threat intelligence?
The five stages of threat intelligence are:
- Planning and direction: Defining intelligence requirements and objectives
- Collection: Gathering raw data from various sources
- Processing: Organizing and filtering data for analysis
- Analysis: Interpreting data to produce actionable insights
- Dissemination: Sharing intelligence with stakeholders for informed decision-making