Is Your Business Domain Protecting You — or Exposing You?
Enter your domain below and find out in seconds whether attackers can send emails pretending to be your business, whether your emails are landing in spam, and what's missing from your email security setup.
Your Domain Is Either Protecting Your Business — or Leaving It Wide Open
Most Indiana business owners assume that because they have a business email address — yourname@yourcompany.com — their email is secure. The reality is that having a domain name doesn't automatically protect it. Without proper configuration, anyone in the world can send an email that looks like it came from your business domain.
This is called email spoofing, and it's the foundation of the majority of business email compromise (BEC) attacks. An attacker sends an email to your employee, your client, or your vendor — appearing to come from your address — asking them to wire money, share credentials, or click a malicious link. The recipient trusts it because it looks like it's from you.
Three email authentication protocols — SPF, DKIM, and DMARC — are the technical defenses that prevent this. Together, they verify that emails claiming to come from your domain actually did. Without all three properly configured, your domain is exposed — and most Indiana businesses have gaps in at least one of them.
Real-world example: A vendor receives an email from graham@ma3sp.technology asking for a wire transfer to a new bank account. The email looks authentic — right name, right logo, right signature. But it was sent by an attacker who spoofed the domain. Without DMARC enforcement, that email reaches the inbox every time. With proper DMARC configuration, it's rejected before anyone ever sees it.
Your Domain Can Be Spoofed
Without DMARC enforcement, attackers can send emails that appear to come from your exact domain to anyone in the world — employees, clients, vendors — with no technical barrier stopping them.
Your Emails May Be Landing in Spam
Missing or misconfigured SPF and DKIM records cause legitimate emails from your domain to be flagged as suspicious by Gmail, Outlook, and other providers — landing in spam instead of inboxes.
Business Email Compromise Is Growing
BEC attacks cost businesses over $2.9 billion annually. The attack doesn't require malware — just a spoofed email that looks legitimate. DMARC stops the spoofed email from ever being delivered.
Google & Yahoo Now Require These Records
Since February 2024, Google and Yahoo require SPF, DKIM, and DMARC for bulk senders. Businesses without proper records face increasing deliverability problems — and stricter enforcement is coming.
Your Domain Reputation Is an Asset
Years of sending email from your domain builds a reputation with inbox providers. A single spoofing attack or blacklisting event can damage that reputation and affect deliverability for months.
What Is SPF — and Why Does Your Business Need It?
SPF stands for Sender Policy Framework. It's a DNS record that tells the world which email servers are authorized to send email on behalf of your domain. Think of it like a guest list for your email.
When someone receives an email claiming to come from yourname@yourcompany.com, their email server checks your SPF record: "Is this email coming from a server that's authorized to send for this domain?" If yes, the email passes. If no — if the email is coming from an unauthorized server — the receiving server knows something is wrong.
Without an SPF record, receiving email servers can't verify whether emails from your domain are legitimate. This makes your domain significantly easier to spoof, and many providers will mark your legitimate emails as suspicious because they can't confirm they came from an authorized source.
SPF alone isn't enough — it works best when combined with DKIM and DMARC — but it's the essential first layer of your email authentication stack.
How SPF Works — Step by Step
Your business sends an email
An email is sent from your Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace account claiming to be from yourname@yourdomain.com.
Recipient server checks your SPF record
The receiving server looks up your domain's SPF record in DNS to see which servers are authorized to send email for you.
It compares the sending server's IP
The server compares the IP address of the server that sent the email against the list in your SPF record.
Pass or Fail
If the sending server is on your authorized list, SPF passes. If not, SPF fails — signaling a potential spoofing attempt.
✓ SPF Pass: Email is from an authorized server. Proceeds to DKIM and DMARC checks.
⚠ SPF Fail: Email is from an unauthorized server. Receiving server may reject or flag as suspicious.
What Is DKIM — the Digital Signature on Your Emails?
DKIM: A Digital Wax Seal on Every Email
Think of DKIM like a wax seal on a medieval letter. When you send a letter, you press your unique seal into wax to prove the letter came from you. If someone intercepts and tampers with the letter, the seal breaks. The recipient can verify the seal matches yours and hasn't been broken.
DKIM does the same for email — using cryptographic key pairs instead of wax seals. Every outgoing email from your domain gets a unique digital signature. If the email is tampered with in transit, the signature fails.
🔒 Private Key
Stored securely on your email server. Used to sign every outgoing email. Never shared publicly.
🔓 Public Key
Published in your domain's DNS. Anyone can use it to verify your email signature. Accessible to all.
DKIM stands for DomainKeys Identified Mail. It adds a cryptographic digital signature to every outgoing email from your domain. This signature proves two things: (1) the email was actually sent from your domain, and (2) the content of the email wasn't altered between when you sent it and when it was received.
Unlike SPF, which verifies the sending server, DKIM verifies the email's content and origin together. This makes it a critical second layer of protection — especially important because SPF can fail in legitimate scenarios like email forwarding, where DKIM continues to work correctly.
When a recipient's server receives your email, it retrieves your public DKIM key from DNS and uses it to verify the signature on the email. If the signature matches, the email is confirmed legitimate. If the signature fails or is missing, it's a red flag — the email may have been forged or tampered with in transit.
Most modern email platforms (Microsoft 365, Google Workspace) support DKIM natively, but it must be properly configured for your domain. Many Indiana businesses have email platforms that could sign emails but haven't had DKIM properly enabled and verified — leaving a gap in their protection.
What Is DMARC — and Why Is It the Most Important Layer?
DMARC stands for Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance. It's the third and most powerful layer of email authentication — and the one that actually enforces the rules set by SPF and DKIM.
Here's what DMARC does that SPF and DKIM alone can't: it tells receiving email servers what to do with emails that fail authentication checks. Without DMARC, even a failed SPF or DKIM check might still result in the email being delivered. DMARC gives you control over what happens to those failed emails.
DMARC also gives you visibility. When configured with reporting, DMARC sends you regular reports showing who is sending email using your domain — both legitimate sources and unauthorized ones. This is how you find out if someone is actively trying to spoof your domain.
Observe — No Enforcement
Emails that fail authentication are still delivered. DMARC only collects reports. Good for initial monitoring, but provides no protection. Most businesses start here and need to advance quickly.
Failed Emails Go to Spam
Emails failing authentication are sent to the recipient's spam or junk folder rather than their inbox. Provides partial protection — spoofed emails are less likely to be seen but still arrive.
Failed Emails Are Rejected Entirely
Emails failing authentication are rejected outright before reaching the recipient. This is full DMARC enforcement — the goal for every Indiana business that wants complete domain spoofing protection.
📊 DMARC Reporting
When DMARC is configured with reporting (rua= tag), you receive aggregate reports from major email providers showing exactly who is sending email using your domain — your own servers, third-party services you've authorized, and anyone attempting to spoof you.
🔗 Alignment: Where DMARC Gets Powerful
DMARC checks "alignment" — ensuring the domain in your email's visible "From" header matches the domain verified by SPF or DKIM. This is what prevents sophisticated spoofing attacks that pass SPF alone by sending from a different domain.
📄 Google & Yahoo's 2024 Mandate
Since February 2024, Google and Yahoo require DMARC for bulk senders (5,000+ emails/day). More importantly, even businesses sending lower volume face stricter deliverability enforcement. DMARC is no longer optional for businesses that rely on email.
☛ SPF + DKIM + DMARC Work Together
Each layer does something the others can't. SPF verifies the sending server. DKIM verifies the email's content integrity. DMARC enforces the rules and reports on violations. All three are required for complete protection — which is exactly what the checker above assesses.
Check Your Domain's Email Security Score Right Now
Enter your business domain below. The scanner checks your SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and BIMI records and returns an instant security risk score — trusted by 175,000+ domains worldwide.
🟢 Low Risk
SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are configured and functioning. Your domain has solid email authentication. Periodic monitoring recommended to stay ahead of emerging risks.
🟠 Medium Risk
Notable SPF, DKIM, or DMARC issues detected. Potential risk of email spoofing. Ma3SP recommends prompt remediation to strengthen your email security posture.
🔴 High Risk
Critical vulnerabilities found. Your domain can likely be spoofed right now. Urgent action required. Contact Ma3SP and we'll address every gap — fast.