DMARC: The Foundation of Email Trust

Helping organizations progress to DMARC enforcement with confidence.

Your Brand Deserves a Safer Inbox.

Email is powerful, but it’s also one of the easiest channels for attackers to exploit. Without authentication, organisations face phishing, impersonation, and damaged trust. DMARC puts you back in control—protecting your domain, revealing unauthorised senders, and helping you build a trusted inbox experience.

image

What is DMARC?

DMARC is an email authentication standard that builds on SPF and DKIM to help receiving mail servers determine whether an email is legitimate.

It allows domain owners to:

  • Specify how unauthenticated email should be handled
  • Receive reports showing who is sending email on their behalf
  • Reduce the risk of domain spoofing and phishing attacks

At its core, DMARC gives organisations control and visibility over how their domain is used in email.

Why DMARC Is Important

Without DMARC, attackers can impersonate trusted brands, putting customers, partners, and internal teams at risk.

Implementing DMARC helps organisations:

  • Prevent phishing and email-based fraud
  • Protect brand reputation and customer trust
  • Improve email deliverability for legitimate messages
  • Gain insight into all email sources using their domain

As email ecosystems become more complex, DMARC has become a baseline requirement for modern email security.

How DMARC Works (High-Level)

DMARC works by aligning two existing authentication mechanisms:

  • SPF (Sender Policy Framework) – verifies authorised sending servers
  • DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) – verifies message integrity and domain ownership

DMARC then applies a policy that tells receiving servers what to do when authentication fails:

  • p=none – monitor only
  • p=quarantine – treat suspicious messages with caution
  • p=reject – block unauthorised messages

DMARC also enables reporting, giving domain owners visibility into email activity and potential abuse.

The DMARC Journey: From Monitoring to Enforcement

DMARC is not a one-step implementation. Most organisations progress through stages:

1. Monitoring

  • Gain visibility into email sources
  • Identify legitimate and unauthorised senders
  • No impact on mail flow

2. Policy Refinement

  • Align SPF and DKIM correctly
  • Reduce authentication failures
  • Prepare for enforcement

3. Enforcement

  • Actively protect the domain
  • Block or quarantine unauthorised email
  • Significantly reduce phishing and spoofing risk

DMARC as a Prerequisite for BIMI, CMC, and VMC

DMARC enforcement is a mandatory prerequisite for advanced trust and brand indicators in email, including:

  • BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification)
  • Common Mark Certificates (CMC)
  • Verified Mark Certificates (VMC)
  • Government Mark Certificates (GMC)

Without DMARC enforcement,and BIMI, organisations cannot implement a CMC or VMC to display verified brand logos in supported inboxes or benefit from certificate-backed brand trust.

Common Challenges with DMARC

Many organisations struggle with DMARC due to:

  • Lack of resources or specific IT knowledge
  • Complex email environments with multiple sending platforms
  • Limited visibility into third-party senders
  • Concerns about disrupting legitimate email
  • Manual analysis of DMARC reports

These challenges often slow progress from monitoring to enforcement.

How GlobalSign Supports Your DMARC Journey

GlobalSign helps organisations align DMARC with broader email trust and authentication strategies.

Our role includes:

  • Supporting organisations preparing for CMC, VMC or GMC
  • Ensuring DMARC enforcement aligns with certificate requirements
  • Working with trusted partners to address visibility and monitoring needs
  • Providing a structured path toward verified inbox trust

DMARC Partner

In some cases, organisations require deeper visibility, reporting, and guidance to progress safely through DMARC implementation. GlobalSign works with a trusted DMARC partner, who specialises in monitoring analysis, and enforcement support.

What Happens Next?

If you are exploring DMARC implementation or preparing for BIMI, CMC or VMC, GlobalSign can help you understand your current position and next steps. From foundational education to partner-supported implementation, we support organisations at every stage of the DMARC journey.

Speak to GlobalSign about DMARC readiness

Additional Resources and Information

Get DMARC‑Ready with GlobalSign and Red Sift

Expert guidance and visibility to prepare your organization for DMARC enforcement.

Together with our trusted partner Red Sift, we provide deep visibility into your email ecosystem and a clear, guided path to DMARC enforcement.

  • Accelerate DMARC readiness to unlock BIMI and Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) opportunities.
  • Red Sift OnDMARC helps you reach p=reject faster, protecting against spoofing, phishing, and Business Email Compromise (BEC).