What is going on with my Email?!
Things are changing in the world of email. In 1971, the first email was sent between two computers sitting next to each other, not a very exciting start. We learned quickly that it could connect us almost instantaneously around the world and emails could be sent by, and to, anyone. We no longer necessarily knew who we were talking to or where they were. And it hasn’t changed a whole lot since the 1970s.
All of that is about to change. People have come to realize there’s a downside to anonymity that is outweighing the benefits. We want to be able to send or receive emails and know who is sending that email, and that it is not for nefarious purposes. See this example from Google:
“Consider this real-world example. The COVID pandemic saw a large increase in malicious email attacks targeting healthcare organizations. These attacks resulted in impersonated email, with attackers requesting donations under the guise of the organization. Email addresses and passwords held by the healthcare organization were leaked online, as people were tricked into providing personal information.
Within a week of implementing DMARC*, messages that appeared to be sent from the healthcare organization were reduced by 70%. Within several weeks, all email impersonation completely stopped.”
*DMARC: Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance
For a business, this security will revolve around your domain, that is the .com address that hosts your website. For a lot of us, this is how we identify our business online. For example, our email address is info@siligent.com where you can send general inquiries, and it's associated with our business, siligent.com. Tied to our domain are a lot of security protocols, addresses, information etc. So when we send an email, the receiving email inbox will take a look at several factors: 1) has our address and domain been verified? 2) are security protocols in place? 3) have we been using the domain for longer than two days? 4) has anyone complained about us? Once those factors have been verified, the email will arrive in your inbox.
Now that inboxes, or email exchange servers, are scrutinizing emails more closely, we can feel a little better knowing that the majority of the emails we receive have at least a few security protocols in place. But what this also means is that if we want our emails to get delivered, we have to prove that we have those factors in place.
Soon emails will become undeliverable if your domain doesn’t have the right security protocols and verifications in place. It's a difficult step, but it's imperative for security and the future of your business’s communication! To learn more, reach out to us. We can check if your email is set up correctly with the right security in place. With 18 million SPAM emails being delivered every day, we all want to feel a little safer.
