2024 Email Authentication Standards: Elevating Security with Google and Yahoo

2024 Email Authentication Standards: Elevating Security with Google and Yahoo

In contemporary email communication, email authentication plays a pivotal role in mitigating email fraud, spam, and phishing attacks. Brace yourself for a new level of security. Starting February 2024, Gmail and Yahoo will be implementing robust email authentication requirements to combat harmful messages and emphasize the crucial role of data security. This measure aims to prevent restrictions on sending rates, message blocking, and marking messages as spam.



Who will experience the effects? 

The updated security guidelines apply to all users, particularly those who send 5000 or more than 5000 emails per day from ZOHO DESK. Not following these guidelines may lead to email delivery delays, blocked messages, or the categorization of emails as spam.

Not to worry. We are here to support you with the best possible solutions.

Basic details that every sender should be aware of
 
To safeguard your path in 2024, it is mandatory to follow the fundamental requirements, beginning with email authentications.

When utilizing a Gmail domain in the 'From' address, it is essential to configure the address with its dedicated SMTP for ensuring accurate mail delivery.

For recipients on gmail.com or googlemail.com, it is recommended to publish DMARC for the sender domain to enhance prompt mail delivery. 

Verify with your own SMTP 

In adherence to the new guidelines, reply emails sent from Zoho Desk with From addresses belonging to gmail.com, googlemail.com, to any domains may be bounced or marked as spam. Therefore, we kindly request all customers to configure these From addresses with your own SMTP verification and use TLS for transmitting email rather than Zoho SMTP. If the From addresses were verified previously with your own SMTP, we will continue using the same authentication for all notification emails sent from Zoho Desk.



Rolling out SPF & DKIM  

SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) are vital email authentication protocols that protect against spam, phishing, and spoofing. SPF verifies the authenticity of emails from your domain, while DKIM confirms their source by validating authorized servers associated with sending domains. These protocols work together to validate emails, ensuring that they originate from legitimate sources and have not been tampered with during transmission. This implementation enhances the overall security of your email communications by reducing the risk of email spoofing, phishing, and other malicious activities. 

Minimal Spam Rate 

Maintain spam rates below 0.10% and ensure they never exceed 0.30% for optimal email deliverability.

Essential  Requirements for Users Sending 5000 or More Emails Daily 

Implement DMARC Policy 

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication Reporting and Conformance) is an authentication technique that leverages the Sender Policy Framework (SPF) and DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) to authenticate emails. This helps in preventing forging emails and engaging in unauthorized activities through them.

 How DMARC Works: 

1: Publish the DMARC policy outlining instructions for mailbox providers' receiving servers on how to handle emails that breach the policy.
2: Authenticate your sender domain by implementing SPF and DKIM.
3: The receiving server will apply the DMARC policy and execute the instructions specified in the policy.
4: The receiving server will send a report detailing how it handled the email to the reporting email address specified in the DMARC record.

Sample: DMARC record
v=DMARC1\; p=none\; rua=mailto:dmarc-aggregate@mydomain.com\; ruf=mailto:dmarc-afrf@mydomain.com\; pct=100

v: Signifies the DMARC version in use.
p: Signifies the policy established by the business.
rua: Specifies the URI for sending a consolidated report, including information on SPF and DKIM validation results, details about the sending and receiving domains, and the percentage of successful authentications.
ruf: Specifies the email address where the comprehensive SPF/DKIM failure report will be delivered.
pct: Denotes the percentage of emails subject to the policy application.

To prevent emails from being marked as spam, bounced, or experiencing delays in delivery, it is mandatory to set your policy (p) to none in DMARC record. “p = none”

If the policy (p) is set to "quarantine" or "reject," the emails will either be redirected to the spam folder or will not be delivered to the recipient, respectively. 

Ensure DMARC Alignment 

DMARC alignment pertains to the uniformity in the alignment of email authentication mechanisms, particularly SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), with the domain asserted by the sender.

Sample DMARC - SPF Alignment

Sender Address

From: Header

Strict Alignment

Relaxed Alignment

support@mycompany.com

support@mycompany.com

Pass

Pass

support@admin. mycompany.com

support@mycompany.com

Fail

Pass

support@mycompany.org

support@mycompany.com

Fail

Fail

 
SPF Strict Alignment: A precise match between the SPF-authenticated domain and the domain specified in the header's "From:" address. 

SPF Relaxed Alignment: The domain indicated in the "From:" address of the header should either match or be a subdomain of the SPF-authenticated domain. 

Sample DMARC - DKIM Alignment

From: Header

DKIM d= domain

Strict Alignment

Relaxed Alignment

support@mycompany.com

mycompany.com

Pass

Pass

support@admin. mycompany.com

mycompany.com

Fail

Pass

support@mycompany.org

mycompany.com

Fail

Fail


DKIM Strict Alignment: A precise match between the relevant DKIM domain and the domain specified in the header's "From:" address. 

DKIM Relaxed Alignment: The domain mentioned in the "From:" address of the header must either coincide with or be a subdomain of the SPF-authenticated domain. 

Add ARC headers 

Implement ARC (Authenticated Received Chain) authentication to avoid Gmail categorizing the email as unauthenticated, especially when utilizing frequent mail forwarding practices.
For additional information on ARC authentication, please refer to the official Google document linked here.

Set up SPF & DKIM 
Mail authentication protocols such as SPF & DKIM should be implemented for organization sending emails to google or yahoo recipients.

What are the consequences if the deadline is not met? 

Adhering to the sender requirements before the deadline is crucial for optimizing email delivery. Failure to meet the criteria detailed in this article may lead to your email not reaching its destination as intended or being categorized as spam.

Quick Summary:

The Update - Gmail and Yahoo are implementing robust email authentication standards from February 2024.
The Effects - Failure to meet these requirements may result in emails being categorized as spam or not reaching their intended destination.
The Action to be taken - Users sending 5000 or more emails daily must implement SPF,  DKIM and publish DMARC policies. 


Regards,
Sumaya Howth - Product Manager
The Zoho Desk Team



      • Sticky Posts

      • 2024 Email Authentication Standards: Elevating Security with Google and Yahoo

        In contemporary email communication, email authentication plays a pivotal role in mitigating email fraud, spam, and phishing attacks. Brace yourself for a new level of security. Starting February 2024, Gmail and Yahoo will be implementing robust email

      • Using Agent Email Address as From Address

        Currently, while replying to a ticket, it is possible for agents to choose their own email addresses as 'from' addresses. Although we built this just for that little extra flexibility, in hindsight, it hasn't figured much in conventional usage.  Almost all businesses prefer that responses to their customers' tickets be sent from the common support/service email address and NOT from those of individual agents. During personal interactions at events, some of you have even made passing mentions about

      • Edit and Delete options in Comments

        A lot of teams have been using ticket comments extensively to collaborate everyday. Notification Center further improved this experience by bringing real-time updates. As we continue to build more improvements to this experience, we've shipped a small-yet-important

      • Webinar 2: Supercharged customer support for growing business

        Join us for this webinar and learn how to step up your support game using a real-time communication platform to generate happier, more successful customers. In this live webinar, we will will discuss the importance of SalesIQ for your support team and how it can help you:  Understand your customers better and their journeys to proactively support and engage them even before they ask for help.  Integrating real time conversations into Zoho Desk’s Support, providing a conversational customer service

      • Customize Colors of your Customer Self Service Portal

        You asked for it. We heard you. We're happy to roll out the most sought after feature request, Customizing the Colors of your Customer Self-service Portal. Now you can set the color of your customer portal to mimic your company's web site, so that your customers visiting the portal will not feel alienated by the default theme.  Go ahead and configure the color of the header, tabs, fonts and background according to your needs. You can either choose between default color themes like Blue, Grey, Green

        • Recent Topics

        • Using IMAP configuration for shared email inboxes

          Our customer service team utilizes shared email boxes to allow multiple people to view and handle incoming customer requests. For example, the customer sends an email to info@xxxx.com and multiple people can view it and handle the request. How can I configure

        • Scan & Fill with double quote key/value pairs

          Hi, An old Ticket moved to a Topic/Idea: I love the idea of the new Scan & Fill as it nearly covers my previous request for a QR Scanner to read a multi-part QR Code. My QR Codes are hard-coded as below: {"key1":"value1","key2":"value2","key3":"value3"}

        • Increase the "Maximum Saved Entries per User" Options Limit

          Hi, You can create lots of saved entries, yet the Limit when you apply one is 25, we may often expect 32 to be in draft, and therefore want to enforce that, can we increase the limit of this field from 25 to 100 (As you can just turn it off and have more

        • HEIC File Type Viewer

          Hi, It would be nice to be able to click on the images in the All Entries/Reports Tables which are HEIC the same as JPG, PNG, etc. so they open in a viewer from Zoho or the Attachment Service, today HEIC requires you to download each image and open it

        • Map Dependency Upgrades in Zoho CRM

          Map Dependency Fields enhancements are now available across all DCs. Hello everyone, We’ve introduced a set of enhancements to Map Dependency Fields to make setup simpler, faster, and more intuitive. Map Dependency helps control how values appear across

        • Zoho Forms Submission URL

          Hi Zoho, It would be great to have a URL which can take us to specific form entries. For example: https://forms.zoho.eu/ACCOUNTNAME/report/FORMNAME/records/UNIQUE-REF I currently have a use case where I want to use Zoho Flow to create a module entry in

        • Optional Parameter in Deluge Sendmail function to link email to record

          I love sendmail - it offers flexibility (and, with standalone functions, commonality with minimal maintenance) over the years the templates hadn't offered. I understand the templates have come a long way, but I still prefer sendmail most days. That said...

        • Zoho CRM Functions: Redesigned Interface, Rich Analytics, and Multi-Language Support

          Hello everyone! We have given Functions in Zoho CRM a major overhaul with a new interface that makes it easier to build, organize, monitor, and troubleshoot your functions throughout their lifecycle. As part of this revamp, we have also introduced a unified

        • 📣 And the Bigin Customer Award winners are...

          50+ entries. Customers from across the globe. So many great Bigin stories. And now, it's time to celebrate the people who stood out. We launched the Bigin Customer Awards to see how businesses are using Bigin in their own unique ways, and you did not

        • Report Configuration - Unable to select "File_Upload" under Supporting Document

          Good day everyone. I encounter this issue whereby i have difficulty to select "File_Upload" under Supporting Document when i configuring my report. Ps: I have create Supporting Document in Zoho creator form as subform and the add this "File Upload" inside

        • Zoho CRM Multi-select values not translated

          Hello! I have some issue with translate custom multi-select fields in zoho CRM in other language. I download export file, but it has all my custom fields and picklist values exept multi-select fields picklist values.  Please, help me to undestand, is

        • Go Multilingual with Instant Bot Auto-Translation

          Imagine you run a travel company with customers across different regions. Your website chatbot helps visitors discover travel packages, answers questions, and makes bookings. As your business expands into new markets, you want to offer the same experience

        • Create Flexible Layouts with Layout Rules

          In a project, when a work moves from planning to execution, the information teams need can change at every stage. A project can need one set of details, a phase can need another, and a custom process may require an entirely different set of information.

        • Zoho Sites after login page blank

          after i login to zoho sites, it stalls at a blank screen please help

        • Map My Client Locations for Zoho CRM Extension: Turn CRM Addresses Into Action

          Hello everyone, Your CRM knows who your customers are. Now, see where they are on the interactive map directly from Zoho CRM. Introducing Map My Client Locations for Zoho CRM, an extension built for businesses that rely on sales visits, field service,

        • Find the conversions hiding outside your funnel: User Journeys is now live in PageSense

          Hello Everyone, We are excited to announce that User Journeys is now live in Zoho PageSense. Here is what that means for you. Funnels are great for one thing. They tell you how the path you designed is performing. Homepage to product to cart to checkout,

        • Zoho CRM Error message #2 : Fixing [Invalid Credentials] and [Authentication Fail] while configuring IMAP

          Hi Everyone! As a part of our Zoho CRM Error messages series, we're going to focus on couple of error messages that you might encounter while configuring IMAP and ways to resolve them. These are: [Invalid Credentials] [Authentication Fail] The annoying

        • Zoho Community Digest - August 2026 | Part 4

          Hi everyone, and welcome back! We're closing out August with a strong final week, from Incentives for Zoho CRM bringing commission management inside the platform to Sequences in Bigin automating customer follow-ups end to end. There's also an IP allowlist

        • Related Lists: Consolidate cross-module data

          A new and efficient way to connect your project data across the boundaries of modules, entities, and applications. Introducing related lists to incorporate related records from any module, entity, or external source directly into the detail view of a

        • Zoho Workshops in Frankfurt a.M. | 07. & 08. Oktober 2026 | Nur noch 1 Monat

          Liebe deutschsprachige Zoho Community, Nur noch einen Monat bis zu den Zoho Workshops in Frankfurt! Am 7. und 8. Oktober ist es soweit: Die Zoho Workshops kehren zurück und finden dieses Mal im Radisson Blu Hotel, Frankfurt am Main, statt. Wenn Sie Ihre

        • Need to set workflow or journey wait time (time delay) in minutes, not hours

          Minimum wait time for both Campaigns workflows and Marketing Automation journeys is one hour. I need one or the other to be set to several minutes (fraction of the hour). I tried to solve this by entering a fraction but the wait time data type is an integer

        • Zoho Assist Remote Desktop on Android grey screen

          With Zoho Assist Remote Desktop for Android when I connect to an unattended device I see only a Grey Screen. It worked fine before. This is a recently issue. I tried to clean data and cache, reinstall app, try and old version... but nothing. Always grey

        • Integration Multiple WooCommerce Stores

          Currently, Zoho Marketing Automation supports connecting only one WooCommerce store per account. For businesses managing multiple brands or stores, this creates operational challenges, as they are forced to maintain separate accounts for each store. Suggested

        • Introducing Smart Fields in Zoho Forms

          Hello form builders! We are excited to introduce Smart Fields in Zoho Forms - a faster way to add calculations to your forms without writing formulas. Instead of creating multiple fields and configuring complex calculations yourself, you can now drag

        • Feature Request: Add Sort by Cell Color and Text Color functionality

          Hello Zoho Sheet Development Team, I am writing to suggest a feature enhancement for Zoho Sheet. Currently, the platform supports "Filter by Color," which is incredibly useful. However, there is no native option to "Sort by Color" (by cell fill or text

        • MCP for Zoho Sign is not working

          I'm using the mcp builder at mcp.zoho.com and selected Zoho Sign. I have created it 4 different times but my other mcp servers are working. However, mcp for zoho sign WILL NOT WORK. It throws a 400 error. I've checked everything. I tried with both Grok

        • Automating CRM backup storage?

          Hi there, We've recently set up automatic backups for our Zoho CRM account. We were hoping that the backup functionality would not require any manual work on our end, but it seems that we are always required to download the backups ourselves, store them,

        • Android screen dissapeared

          While running assist on an android tablet, screen poofs out of existence, have to restart sharing.

        • Kaizen #229: Email-Deal Associations in Zoho CRM

          Hi All, Welcome back to another week of Kaizen! Emails are a core channel for customer communication in any CRM system. In Zoho CRM, emails can be associated with records across multiple modules. In this post, we will focus on email associations with

        • Cross-application Deluge calls fail when application link name starts with a number

          I encountered an issue when calling a custom function in another Zoho Creator application within the same account. The target application’s URL/application link name began with a number, similar to: 27_example_application The following cross-application

        • Bank charges

          Hello, team zoho I have a difficulty, in the form to register the payment of the customer has a field "bank charges" more when registering an expense or payment to the supplier that field does not appear. And I think that's a mistake because in my account

        • Bank Feeds - Multiple Orgs / Multiple LLCs

          Hi, We are migrating our books over from another service, and trying to connect our bank feeds. We have 3 separate LLCs, and 3 separate orgs in Zoho Books. We want to connect the bank feeds for each entity to each org. However, when we connect the 2nd

        • WORK DRIVE CUSTOMIZATION

          WORK DRIVE CUSTOMIZATION Create folder for every Case by “Contact Name “in Work Drive under Associate Deals Folder Directory: User Work Drive Accounts: Route Directory Associate Cases Case Name, Case Number Client Upload- Shared with contact (for collaboration)

        • All new Address Field in Zoho CRM: maintain structured and accurate address inputs

          Availability Update: 29 September 2025: It's currently available for all new sign-ups and for existing Zoho CRM orgs which are in the Professional edition exclusively for IN DC users. 2 March 2026: Available to users in all DCs except US and EU DC. 24

        • Vendor payment unexpectedly routed through Prepaid Expenses instead of Accounts Payable

          Hello, We are investigating an unexpected accounting behavior in Zoho Books. We created vendor bills and vendor payments for two suppliers using what appears to be the same workflow, but the journal entries are different. Vendor 1 – UZ Store (works correctly)

        • BANK CHARGES

          When paying a supplier via credit card we are charged a fee. I process the payment through payments made and then enter the fees in bank charge. However i get this message :  Bank charges are applied. Please select a bank account. And it will not let

        • JOIN with Select and TOP not returning data to results

          hi when I add TOP to yellow it does not return cl."Id", cl."Date",cl."Outcome", cl."Membership" from the join. Remove it and they appear. The TOP and the ON seem to work as in the number of rows returned. Doing the classic join log table and return only

        • [Free webinar] Blueprint as a business process engine - Creator Tech Connect

          Hello everyone, We are excited to invite you to another edition of the Creator Tech Connect webinar. About Creator Tech Connect The Creator Tech Connect series is a free monthly webinar comprised of pure technical sessions, where we dive deep into the

        • Allow Email Attachments to Be Opened Directly in Zoho CRM

          Hi all, It would be very helpful if attachments linked to an email in Zoho CRM could be clicked and opened directly from the email preview. Currently, the attachment names are displayed, but the experience of viewing them is unnecessarily limited. Users

        • Zoho email suddenly stopped working - any ideas to fix this ?

          Zoho email suddenly stopped working. although got this sent to me Reporting-MTA: dns; mx.zohomail.eu Arrival-Date: Wed, 26 Aug 2026 12:48:05 +0100 Original-Recipient: rfc822; Final-Recipient: rfc822; Status: 421 Action: delayed Last-Attempt-Date: 26 Aug

        • Next Page