The Evolution of Email Authentication
Email is the backbone of modern communication—and the largest distributed application on the internet. With billions of users and millions of mail servers relying on the same core protocols, meaningful changes to email infrastructure happen slowly, requiring years of industry-wide adoption.
2003:
- First SPF draft.
2004:
- First DomainKeys draft (predecessor to DKIM).
2006:
- First DKIM draft.
- PayPal begins work with Yahoo on authentication-based model.
2007:
- BITS Email Security Working Group publishes paper recommending TLS + SPF + DKIM for email.
- DKIM RFC published.
- PayPal + Yahoo blocking based on DomainKeys+SPF goes live.
2008:
- PayPal publishes “A Practical Approach To Managing Phishing”.
2009:
- BITS publishes deployment guide for email authentication.
- First companies launch to build business on top of authenticated email model.
- Private-channel model prototyped by webmail providers.
2010:
- proto-DMARC.ORG effort begins, organized by PayPal to create Internet-scale success as published in 2008.
- Anti-Phishing solutions built on top of proto-DMARC start shipping.
2011:
- DMARC.org organizes, begins work.
2012:
- First DMARC draft released.
- dmarcian.com launches to support DMARC.
- DMARC adoption reaches ~60% of global consumer inboxes.
2013:
- BITS publishes “BITS Email Authentication Policy and Deployment Strategy for Financial Services Firms,” recommends DMARC.
- DMARC.ORG specification work moves to the IETF.
2014:
- DMARC Working Group chartered within IETF.
2015:
- DMARC.org becomes initiative under the Trusted Domain Project, a non-profit and tax-exempt public benefit corporation in State of California.
- Valimail is founded in the United States.
- Red Sift is founded in the United Kingdom, introducing OnDMARC as part of its cloud security platform.
2018
- Sendmarc launches in South Africa, expanding the reach of the growing DMARC ecosystem.
- DMARCLY debuts in the United States as a dedicated DMARC provider.
- Mailhardener is established in The Hague, Netherlands, bringing another dedicated DMARC solution.
2019
- PowerDMARC is founded in the United States, entering the expanding DMARC ecosystem.
- URIports launches in the Netherlands with a focus on DMARC reporting and monitoring.
2020
- Founded with roots in the United States and Armenia, EasyDMARC enters the DMARC market.
- Founded in the Netherlands, DMARC Report joins the growing ecosystem of dedicated DMARC vendors.
2021
- Fraudmarc is founded in Australia, expanding the global footprint of the DMARC industry.
2022
- GoDMARC launches in India, adding to the growing community of dedicated DMARC providers.
Today
- Today, email is more important than ever, but also more vulnerable to phishing, impersonation, and other sophisticated attacks.
If your domains lack proper protection, your brand is at risk. Secure your mail flow and test your compliance free with dmarcian.
We’re Here to Help
With a team of email security experts and a mission of making email and the internet more trustworthy through domain security, dmarcian is here to help assess an organization’s domain catalog and implement and manage DMARC for the long haul.
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