“No DMARC record found”, or simply “no DMARC found” is an error you may come across if your domain is missing the DMARC record. Fixing this error may be as simple as having a DMARC record published on your domain’s DNS.
Similar variations of the same error may be as follows:
- No DMARC record
- No DMARC record found
- DMARC record is missing
- No DMARC found
- Domain missing DMARC record
- DMARC record not found
- No DMARC record published
- DMARC policy not enabled
- Unable to find DMARC record
Domain-based Message Authentication Reporting and Conformance, or DMARC, is an email authentication protocol that can protect your domain from phishing attacks. Email validation systems like DMARC have become increasingly popular in recent years because of the surge in email-based cyberattacks. According to the FBI IC3 Report, phishing was the most prevalent cybercrime of 2021, taking up 22% of all data breaches! This further demonstrates the immediate need for advanced email security measures like DMARC to boost anti-phishing measures.
This article takes you through step-by-step guidelines on fixing the “no DMARC record found” error for your domain by getting a published DMARC record.
Why is a DMARC Record Needed
DMARC (defined under RFC 7489) plays a significant role in protection against email and domain name impersonation. DMARC assumes popular authentication protocols – SPF and DKIM, and builds on them to validate messages sent from a domain.
DMARC instructs how to respond if an email is from an unauthorized source and fails authentication checks for SPF or DKIM, as shown in the diagram above. Furthermore, with the help of an effective email authentication standard like DMARC, you can improve your email delivery rate, reach, and trust.
With DMARC, you can even monitor your deliverability with the help of XML reports. These reports describe in detail your email delivery path, sending source, IP address and authentication results:
Why is it Important to Fix “No DMARC Found” Error?
It is important to fix the “No DMARC Found” error since email is the easiest way cybercriminals can abuse your brand name, and email authentication is a primary defense mechanism to prevent such email fraud and brand impersonation attempts. This is how a missing DMARC record can impact your business:
- By using your domain and impersonating your brand, hackers can send malicious phishing emails to your own employees and customers. Since SMTP is not retrofitted with secure protocols against fake “From” fields, an attacker can forge email headers to send fraudulent emails from your domain. Not only will this compromise security in your organization, but it will seriously harm your brand reputation.
- Email spoofing can lead to BEC (Business Email Compromise), loss of valuable company information, unauthorized access to confidential data, financial loss, and reflect poorly on your brand’s image. Even after implementing SPF and DKIM for your domain, you cannot prevent cybercriminals from impersonating your domain.
Consequences of Not Fixing “No DMARC Record Found” Error
The negative implications of not fixing the “no DMARC record found” error are as follows:
- Lack of protection against phishing attacks
- Lack of protection against domain abuse and impersonation, including direct-domain spoofing attacks
- Non-compliance with Google’s bulk sender policies
- Non-compliance with Yahoo’s bulk sender policies
- Increased spam and email bounce rates
- Email deliverability issues
The Impact of Not Having a DMARC Reject Policy
Vulnerability to Email Attacks
When your domain lacks a DMARC reject policy, you leave it exposed to a range of email security threats. Phishing and email spoofing become significantly easier for attackers.
DMARC’s Limited Functionality Without a Reject Policy
Simply having a DMARC record set to “p=none” offers no protection. This setting essentially monitors email traffic without taking any action against unauthorized messages.
Damage to Brand Reputation
When recipients seemingly receive fraudulent emails from your domain, their trust in your brand diminishes.
Financial Risks
Email spoofing can have dire financial repercussions. Victims of phishing scams may provide sensitive information or make payments to fraudulent accounts.
Steps to Implementation
- Analyze: Examine the email flows and collect data using “p=none.”
- Progress: Move to “p=quarantine” to test tighter controls.
- Enforce: Finally, set the policy to “p=reject” to prevent unauthorized emails from ever reaching their destination.
Ignoring the need for a DMARC reject policy is like leaving your doors unlocked in a high-crime area. It’s essential to configure DMARC correctly to safeguard your domain from email-based attacks, protect your brand reputation, and avert financial losses.
How to Fix “No DMARC Record Found” Error in 5 Steps
On encountering the “no DMARC record found” error, you can get your DMARC record created and published on your domain to troubleshoot the error easily. Given below are the steps for automatic and effortless DMARC deployment.
Prerequisites Before Implementing DMARC
Before you start fixing the “no DMARC record found” error by setting up your DMARC record, make sure you have the following in place:
- Set Up SPF Authentication
To ensure your emails are authenticated and reduce the chances of them being marked as spam, you’ll need to publish a Sender Policy Framework (SPF) record. SPF is defined under RFC 7208. Here’s how you can do it:
- Generate the SPF record: Use a free SPF record generator tool. Input your domain and any IP addresses, or third-party email senders that you authorize to send emails on your behalf.
- Format your SPF record: The format for an SPF record usually looks something like this:
v=spf1 include:spf.example.com include:mailchimp.com ip4:192.0.2.0/24 -all
v=spf1 specifies the version of SPF being used.
include:example.com and include:mailchimp.com are the domains whose SPF records should be included.
ip4:192.0.2.0/24 specifies an authorized IP range.
-all means only the specified sources are permitted to send emails.
- Publish the Record in Your DNS: Go to your domain hosting provider’s DNS management console. Add a new DNS TXT record. Paste the generated SPF record into the TXT value field. Save the changes and allow some time for DNS propagation.
- Set Up DKIM Authentication
Setting up DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) authentication involves configuring your mail server to sign outgoing messages with a unique cryptographic signature. This signature ensures that the message hasn’t been altered during transit and verifies that it comes from your domain. DKIM is defined under RFC 6376.
Implementation steps:
- Generate a DKIM record: First, you need to create a DKIM record using a DKIM record generator
- Add DKIM record to DNS: Next, log in to your DNS management portal. Create a new TXT record using the DKIM selector and paste the public key into the TXT record field.
- Configure mail server with DKIM: Now, you need to configure your mail server to sign outgoing emails with DKIM:
- Test DKIM configuration: Finally, test your configuration using our DKIM lookup tool.
Note: It is not mandatory to set up both SPF and DKIM before implementing DMARC, but it is a recommended approach for enhanced security. Setting up either of the two protocols is necessary for DMARC deployment.
Now let’s discuss the steps to set up your DMARC record:
Step 1: Detect the Error
It is important to first find out whether or not the “no DMARC record found” error is present. To do so, sign up on the PowerDMARC portal and inspect your dashboard for registered domains. If you find the “No record found” message on your dashboard, this affirms that the error exists.
Alternatively, you can check your DMARC record with our free DMARC checker tool to confirm the presence of a record or the absence of one.
Step 2: Create a TXT record for DMARC
Create your free account on PowerDMARC and access your portal. You can select our DMARC record generator tool from the Toolbox to start creating your missing DMARC record.
Step 3: Choose Your DMARC Policy
Determine the DMARC enforcement policy you desire to configure from the table shown below.
How to determine your DMARC enforcement policy?
To determine which DMARC policy mode you should choose for the policy parameter (p), you can refer to the table below:
| Zero enforcement/monitoring only | p=none |
| Review unauthorized emails in the spam folder | p=quarantine |
| Discard/Not deliver emails | p=reject |
What Are the Risks of Setting a DMARC Policy to “p=reject” Without Proper Setup?
Implementing a DMARC policy with “p=reject” can present several risks if not correctly configured. Here’s why caution is essential:
1. Rejection of Legitimate Emails
- When the DMARC policy is set to “p=reject”, emails that fail the authentication checks are outright rejected.
- If your email infrastructure isn’t perfectly aligned, even valid emails from your domain can be mistakenly flagged as fraudulent and rejected, leading to lost correspondence and potential business disruptions.
2. Limited Initial Visibility
- Launching a “p=reject” policy without adequate monitoring and preliminary checks can leave you blind to what is happening with your email.
- Without the right insights, it’s difficult to understand which emails are failing DMARC checks and why, impeding your ability to fine-tune your setup.
3. Compromised Communication Channels
- Imagine your email communications as a secure vault. Misconfiguring DMARC would be akin to locking everyone out, including authorized users.
- This misstep doesn’t just stall potential phishing attempts; it can severely restrict normal business operations as crucial emails fail to reach their intended recipients.
Steps to Mitigate These Risks:
1. Start with “p=none” or “p=quarantine”
- Begin your DMARC implementation journey with a “p=none” policy. This setting allows you to gather data without impacting email delivery.
- Transition gradually to “p=quarantine” to have suspicious emails moved to spam folders rather than completely rejected.
2. Regular Monitoring and Updates
- Leverage tools and dashboards to continuously monitor your DMARC reports. Platforms like Google Postmaster Tools can provide valuable insights.
- Regular updates and configuration checks are crucial to ensure your DMARC policy adapts to any changes in your email-sending practices.
By following these guidelines, you can safely progress towards a “p=reject” while safeguarding both your domain’s reputation and your email deliverability.
Step 4: Add the Missing DMARC Record to Your DNS
Login to your DNS management console and create a new TXT record for DMARC. The hostname for this record must be _dmarc and you can configure a TTL of 1 hour.
Step 5: Validate the Published DMARC Record
Ensure your DMARC record is valid by passing it through a DMARC checker tool.
Fixing “No DMARC Record Found” Error for Different Service Providers
Steps for adding your missing DMARC record are different for different mail service providers. Here are steps for a few main ones:
1. Deploying DMARC on Cloudflare
- Login to your account
- Click on websites > my websites > DNS settings
- Select TXT as the record type, host record name: _dmarc, TTL: automatic, and paste your record value in the “Value” field.
2. Deploying DMARC on GoDaddy
- Login to your account
- Find your domain under “My products” tab, click on DNS > ADD
- Select TXT as the record type, host: _dmarc, TTL: 1 hour, and paste your record value in the “Value TXT” field.
3. Deploying DMARC on cPanel
- Login to cPanel
- Go to Domains > DNS Editor /Advanced DNS editor/ DNS zone editor
- Click on “manage” for your desired domain and add your record entry by entering the values in the zone editor
Need Help with a Different DNS Provider?
If your DNS provider isn’t listed above, don’t worry. You can explore our knowledge base for more information on setting up DMARC records with various DNS providers apart from the ones listed above.
Is Adding The Missing DMARC Record Enough?
It can be annoying and confusing to come across prompts saying “Hostname returned a missing or invalid DMARC record” when checking for a domain’s DMARC record while using online tools. Once you have successfully resolved the “No DMARC record found” error and your domain is now configured with DMARC authentication, your work doesn’t end there. It may be exciting to imagine that DMARC is a silver bullet that can resolve all your issues, but it’s not, and here’s why:
Shortcomings of DMARC
- Dependency on SPF and DKIM: DMARC requires SPF or DKIM to work. You must first implement either of the two protocols to start your authentication process with DMARC.
- Reports generated in XML: DMARC reports are generated in XML format, which is hard to read.
- Protection only at an enforced policy: At none policy, DMARC doesn’t offer protection against cyberattacks like phishing or spoofing.
Your Next Steps after Fixing Missing DMARC Error
After fixing DMARC errors, you must make sure that errors like this won’t reoccur. Monitoring your domain and emails is a long-term practice to achieve this, combined with taking the following steps to ensure your email security functions at optimal health:
- Get rid of SPF Permerror by staying under 10 DNS lookups
- Prevent additional email attacks by configuring MTA-STS and TLS-RPT
- Monitor your email deliverability reports regularly to stay on top of any email delivery issues
Overcoming DMARC Weaknesses with PowerDMARC
PowerDMARC’s approach to fixing your “no dmarc found” error is different, and it goes beyond your basic protocol implementation. We address DMARC’s limitations and constraints to provide a well-rounded solution to our customers that helps them make the most of their deployment efforts. Here’s what we do:
100% DMARC Compliance
We align your domains against both SPF and DKIM to achieve 100% compliance in no time.
Human-Readable Reports
We convert your XML Aggregate Reports to a human-readable format that everyone can easily understand.
Smooth Transition to Enforcement
We help you make a smooth transition to an enforced policy guided by real-life security experts so you can start protecting your domain against cyberattacks.
We Help You Implement DMARC the Right Way
PowerDMARC helps your organization achieve compliance by aligning authentication standards with assistance from experts. You can shift from monitoring to enforcement safely with us, while ensuring your legitimate emails don’t fail delivery or get marked as spam. Our DMARC analyzer platform features advanced monitoring capabilities that provide the visibility required to troubleshoot DMARC errors in a breeze!
PowerDMARC combines all email authentication best practices such as DMARC, SPF, DKIM, BIMI, MTA-STS, and TLS-RPT, under the same roof. With us, you can automatically update changes to your dashboard without you having to update your DNS manually. We tailor solutions to your domain and handle most things in the background, so that you implement DMARC correctly to help keep impersonation attacks at bay!
Hope we helped you fix the error! If you found our article helpful, feel free to share it with anyone who may be searching for solutions to fix “No DMARC record found” error. Sign up with PowerDMARC to get a free DMARC trial for your domain today – no credit card details needed!
Our Content Review and Fact-Checking Process
PowerDMARC has real-life experience in helping customers overcome the “no DMARC record found” error. This article is based on practical strategies we have implemented during the troubleshooting process. It has worked well for our clients and we hope it will help other people out there fix this issue as well!
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