Domain authentication

Internet Security. Protocols and policies that specify IP addresses and domains as proof of identity of an individual or organization sending email messages.

Domain authentication tells inbox providers that they can trust an email message. Authentication prevents malicious actors from spoofing legitimate traffic which reduces forgeries, spam, and phishing attempts. By establishing and maintaining proper authentication records, inbox providers lean toward trusting email originating from your domain.

Domain authentication builds on three standards that use the domain name system (DNS):

• DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) signature: Authenticates email message as genuine.
• Sender Policy Framework (SPF): Verifies the sending IP address has authorization.
• Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance (DMARC) policy: Instructs email servers when the other two fail.

This change helps your reputation as a sender and your email deliverability. Email service providers (ESPs) distrust messages without domain authentication, because they can't validate who sent the message. Sender validation increases your reputation with ESPs. This decreases the possibility that send your email message to spam.