DMARC Formal Definition

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) records are a set of rules that help protect your email domain from being used for spam or phishing. These rules are written in a special computer language. Let’s break down what these rules mean in simple terms.

DMARC Record Structure

A DMARC record is made up of different parts, each with a specific role. Here’s a simple explanation of each part:

• dmarc-uri: This is a web address (URL) where reports about email checks are sent. It can also include a size limit for the reports, like ’10k’ for 10 kilobytes or ‘1m’ for 1 megabyte.
• dmarc-record: This is the whole DMARC record. It includes the version of DMARC being used, the policy to apply to emails, and other optional parts.
• dmarc-version: This part identifies the record as a DMARC record. It must be ‘DMARC1’.
• dmarc-sep: This is a separator that is used between different parts of the record.
• dmarc-request and dmarc-srequest: These parts tell the email server what to do with emails that fail the DMARC check. The options are ‘none’ (do nothing), ‘quarantine’ (treat the email as suspicious), or ‘reject’ (don’t accept the email).
• dmarc-auri and dmarc-furi: These parts tell the email server where to send reports about the DMARC checks. The reports can be sent to any valid web address (URL).
• dmarc-adkim and dmarc-aspf: These parts tell the email server whether to use ‘strict’ or ‘relaxed’ mode when checking the email.
• dmarc-ainterval: This part tells the email server how often to send aggregate reports. The value is a number of seconds.
• dmarc-fo: This part tells the email server when to send a report if an email fails the DMARC check.
• dmarc-rfmt: This part tells the email server what format to use for failure reports.
• dmarc-percent: This part tells the email server what percentage of emails to apply the DMARC policy to.

Remember, this is a simplified explanation. In reality, DMARC involves a lot of complex processes and technologies. But hopefully, this gives you a basic understanding of what a DMARC record is and how it works.

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