The cybersecurity landscape is rapidly changing in 2024, bringing new opportunities to businesses. One of those changes occurred on February 1, 2024, when Gmail and Yahoo rolled out their new email authentication protocols. The changes require businesses to re-strategize and adapt their previous email marketing techniques, implementing email authentication methods, such as DMARC, to ensure the legitimacy and deliverability of their emails. This will bring demand for not only DMARC itself but also support in implementing these methods, opening up opportunities for managed service providers (MSPs) to step in. Google and Yahoo’s protocols make DMARC mandatory for groups sending more than 5,000 emails daily. For these high-volume senders to maintain deliverability, they must implement valid email authentication policies DMARC, SPF and DKIM, to solidify their sender reputation and comply with standards. These mechanisms for email authentication will help confirm sender legitimacy using domain ownership validation and reduce the likelihood of spoofing and sender impersonation – notorious key enablers for phishing attacks. These regulations are poised to impact many businesses, particularly those dependent on bulk email newsletters and promotions. Without proper authentication, these companies risk losing inbox placement and customer reach. Many smaller businesses lack the resources and expertise to implement email authentication solutions and strategies on their own, opening an opportunity for MSPs as the changes continue to take effect. MSPs are perfectly positioned to advise their customers on not only the importance of DMARC as a cybersecurity measure but also how to successfully implement the technology in a way that offers maximum protection from potential phishing and spoofing emails. The most significant element of DMARC technology for MSPs and their customers, however, is not its protective qualities but its impact on deliverability. Simply put, those organisations that pass email authentication protocols will end up with more emails hitting inboxes than those who don’t. Whether it’s sales emails, marketing communications or any other correspondence shared by organisations daily, DMARC gives vendors the opportunity to improve the bottom line for their customers by ensuring that emails don’t land in spam or, even worse, get rejected. What is DMARC, why is it important? Domain-based message authentication, reporting and conformance (DMARC) is an email validation system that authenticates sender addresses to prevent phishing and impersonation. It works by comparing a sender’s address to domain records. If they don’t match, the email is likely a spoof. From there, DMARC can prevent the email from ever reaching a receiver’s inbox by placing it in quarantine or rejecting the communication altogether. DMARC is important as it adds a critical layer of protection, especially against increasingly sophisticated 2024’s email authentication opportunity for MSPs Managing a New Marketing Reality By Mike Anderson CORE COMMUNICATIONS 78 CHANNELVISION | MARCH - APRIL 2024
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