NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Global adoption of the most powerful weapon to date against phishing and
spoofing, the Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and
Conformance (DMARC)
authentication protocol, has increased 24 percent in the past year,
according to new research from Return Path.
Released today, the 2016
DMARC Intelligence Report finds that:
-
Of 1,000 global brands surveyed, 29 percent have adopted DMARC—up from
22 percent in 2015. -
North America maintains the highest adoption rate at 42% while other
regions show a strong year-over-year increase. -
Social media as a vertical continues to lead the fight against
phishing with a DMARC adoption rate of 59 percent—up from 51 percent
in 2015. -
Banking, retail, and healthcare sectors are behind the DMARC adoption
curve despite being among the most heavily phished industries.
Just four years after its launch, DMARC has revolutionized the fight
against phishing and domain spoofing by blocking malicious messages
before they hit consumer and employees inboxes. This in turn is forcing
cybercriminals to abandon preferred targets.
Steve Jones, Executive Director, DMARC.org,
commented: “I’m very satisfied with the rising pace of DMARC adoption we
saw globally in 2015. It reflects the clear benefits it brings to an
organization when it comes to email fraud protection, as well as the
recommendations of many government agencies and industry groups
globally. As adoption continues to accelerate through 2016, DMARC will
be seen as a prerequisite for any organization that wants to engage its
customers and partners via the email channel.”
The true value of complete DMARC protection
Brands that have fully embraced DMARC have seen impressive results.
Blocket, Sweden’s largest online marketplace, saw a 99 percent drop in
suspicious messages in just three months after implementing DMARC, and
phishing remediation costs plummeted. “After we implemented a DMARC
reject policy, we saw phishing customer-service tickets drop by more
than 70 percent,” said Thomas Bäcker, Head of Customer Security for
Blocket.
Enterprise adoption gains momentum
DMARC has proven to be an effective defender of domain-based email
threats in the consumer space. With the convergence of email filtering
technology across the consumer and enterprise space (as in the case of
Google and Microsoft), DMARC is expected to permeate its way into
enterprise email filtering systems. There is already evidence of this;
2015 saw an increased number of enterprise messaging gateways enable
DMARC on their appliances to detect and block spear-phishing emails that
spoof corporate domains.
Robert Holmes, General Manager, Email Fraud Protection at Return Path
commented: “As more security email gateways enable DMARC, we will see
more organizations leveraging the protocol to reject emails that spoof
their domains to deceive employees, a particularly effective tactic in
CEO to CFO wire fraud attacks. The good news is that despite the growth
in email threats, more and more companies are taking the right steps
towards better defending their customers, employees, brands, and bottom
line from email fraud.”
The complete DMARC Intelligence Report can be found here: https://returnpath.com/research/dmarc-intelligence-report2016
All graphics from the report can be found here: https://returnpath.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/DMARC-Intelligence-Report-Charts.zip
Return Path will co-host a webinar to review these findings, “Making
Email Safe: DMARC Trends and Adoption,” on February 23rd at 12PM ET with
DMARC.org Executive Director Steve Jones. Register here: rtpth.co/DMARCwebinar
Methodology
Return Path conducted this study using a representative sample of more
than 1,049 global companies across 33 countries from the following
indices: Fortune 500, Inc. 5000 DJIA, NASDAQ, SP, FTSE, and Forbes’
2015 “Top 100 Most Recognizable Brands.” DMARC adoption data was pulled
in January 2016. Percentages may not add up to 100 due to rounding.
About Return Path
Return Path analyzes the world’s largest collection of email data to
show businesses how to stay connected with their audiences, strengthen
their customer engagement, and protect their brands from fraud. Our data
solutions help analysts understand consumer behavior and market trends.
We help mailbox providers and security providers around the world
deliver great user experiences and build trust in email by ensuring that
wanted messages reach the inbox while spam and abuse don’t. For more
information on Return Path’s Email Fraud Protection solution, visit www.returnpath.com/StopEmailFraud
or follow us on Twitter @StopEmailFraud.