Agencies' adoption of DMARC continues to grow

Adoption of the Domain-based Message Authentication Reporting and Conformance email validation protocol by federal government agencies is continuing to grow, reaching 74% as of May, according to SMX.

The secure email company’s third annual report into the adoption of the protocol found that adoption has increased from 66% in 2021 and 53% in 2020.

Meanwhile, 62% of agencies with DMARC are using it for enforcement, including quarantine and rejection of suspicious emails, compared to just 21% two years ago.

Government is ahead of the private sector in this regard, with only 29% of ASX-listed company domains holding a valid DMARC and 44.8% using it in enforcement mode.

Australian agencies are also leading over New Zealand government agencies, with only 50.5% holding a valid DMARC and 21.1% using it for enforcement.

SMX co-founder and email security evangelist Thom Hooker said growing adoption of the protocol is encouraging.

“Good progress is being made in adopting DMARC as organisations recognise its value in protecting not only themselves and anyone who emails them. We have a chance to close the door on phishing and other email-borne security threats in Australia and New Zealand — but must act collectively,” he said.

“Organisations who choose not to implement DMARC risk becoming a vulnerability for their customers and business partners.”

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Sashkin