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

    • 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
    • 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
    • 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
    • Announcing the New and Improved Article Editor

      KBase articles are known to help customers, find solutions to problems on their own and set the stage for ticket deflection. That said, the way you present your KBase content is the clinching factor that ensures your customers stick around to consume it.  We took it upon ourselves to build an editor that allows you to publish articles without delving into the code. Well, at least for the most part. With more options and a redefined interface, the article editor in Zoho Desk is now better than ever!

    Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


      • Recent Topics

      • Zoho Please change your ways

        I started using Your new Zoho bookings in earnest 3 days ago. What a mistake.  Once again, everything is backwards and upside down.  I had to spend 5 hours testing how the thing works in order for me to understand how to acutally use it.  When i started using google calendar years ago.  it took seconds to figure out how it works. Why is that. bc they put everything in places where it makes sense.  Today, I needed to add an appointment as well as a time off.  Stupid me i added the time off first,
      • Make a ticket visible in the Community

        Hi there, It is possible to have a conversation with a customer via a ticket and eventually the proposed solution isn't possible yet. Therefore you want to add it as an idea in the Community, available and open to everyone that is in the community, so
      • When converting a lead to an account, the custom mandatory fields in the account are not treated by zoho as mandatory

        In my Account module I have a number of custom fields that I have set as mandatory. When I enter a new customer as a new account they work, I can't save the record without populating them. However when I convert a lead, my CRM users are able to save the
      • How to Enforce Mandatory Fields (Category/Sub-category) Before Closing a Ticket?

        Hi, I'm currently using Zoho Desk and encountering an issue where agents are able to close tickets without filling out mandatory fields, specifically Category and Sub-category. I’ve already set them both as a mandatory field, but it can still be bypassed
      • Zoho email folders gone

        Hi, All my email folders are gone, i cant found any email, except sent. Also before folder rulesas was changed and i didnt fixed them, could you please check it?
      • Pause/Resume Subscrtiption API

        I don't see the option to Pause/Resume a subscription using the API, is it in the pipeline?
      • Update Department on Ticket (with applied Blueprint)

        Hello, Is it possible to update the Department of a ticket which is dictated by a blueprint, e.g. I would like to change departments at different states in the Blueprint. I do not see this is an option in workflow rules or blueprint transition actions,
      • ERROR_CODE :554, ERROR_CODE :rejected due to spam

        Please verify bounce message: This message was created automatically by mail delivery software. A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of its recipients. This is a permanent error. xxx@thalesesec.com Error, ERROR_CODE :554, ERROR_CODE
      • Can't verify domain with AWS Route53

        I have a domain successfully transferred to AWS Route53 from NameCheap. When I try to CNAME or TXT Records as suggested, they are added in AWS console however zohomail does not verify them. For the TXT record zohomail says the value is wrong, whereas
      • Sent emails not going and showing "Processing"

        Hello Team, Could you please assist with sent emails showing "processing" and not actually going through? Many thanks and regards, Cycology
      • LinkedIn verification link and otp not receiving

        For the last 2 to 3 weeks I'm trying to verify my LinkedIn account to access my company's LinkedIn page, Linkedin is sending verification links and codes to this email address but I have not received any codes or links. Please help me here. Looking forward
      • Admin Control for Default Email Templates in Zoho Desk

        Hi Zoho Desk Team, We would like to request a feature enhancement related to default email templates. Currently, agents can select and set their own default email templates when replying to tickets. However, we believe this setting should be managed centrally
      • Unlocking New Horizons: A Year in Review

        As we bid farewell to 2024, let's celebrate and revisit the key highlights of the year. From adding a new edition to cross-platform enhancements, here’s a roundup of all the feature updates designed to simplify accounting, optimize financial management,
      • Zoho desk desktop application

        does zoho desk has a destop applicaion?
      • send file to ftp or another external service

        i'v created a zoho creator application for take a picture and rename it by phone. Now i need to send Each renamed pictures to my ftp or to specific folder on google drive...then, delete it from creator. (every picture recived it will processed by another program and stored on my Erp) HOW CAN I DO ??
      • Error 403: Forbidden When Updating Email Signature via API

        Hi Zoho Desk team, First, congratulations again on the excellent Zoho API. But, I’m encountering an issue while attempting to update an email signature via the API. Whenever I make a request to update the signature, the response returns an HTTP 403 Forbidden
      • Has anyone built a ticket export that allows Help Center users to export the tickets shown in the My Area list they are looking at?

        Hi, We are moving to Zoho Desk soon. Our current support system displays an option in our help center allowing customers to export their Open, Closed, or all tickets based on which list they are looking at. We need to offer the same in Zoho Desk help
      • Mass pdfs into OCR field

        I am working on a Creator app that my org will use internally. Is there any way to mass upload pfs through a form with an OCR file upload field? Is Creator capable of this, or would I need to use Catalyst?
      • How to upload a file to form file upload field from deluge script.

        Hi guys, I need to store API response into Form File upload field . I'm not getting any errors but PDF file is not assigned to file upload field. You can check possibilities using below details: Method: POST URL: https://v2.convertapi.com/convert/web/to/pdf?Secret=<<SecretKey>>&Token=<<APIKey>>&Url=https://www.google.com You need to generate secretKey and APIKey by Login to https://www.convertapi.com/a/su Response: { "ConversionCost": 4, "Files": { "FileName": "www_google_com.pdf", "FileSize": 68342,
      • Export view via deluge.

        Hi, Is it possible to export a view (as a spreadsheet) via deluge? I would like to be able to export a view as a spreadsheet when a user clicks a button. Thanks     
      • Subform Time field showing as null in script.

        Good Afternoon everyone. I am trying to take the information from my subform and populate it into a multiline field in the CRM. The code below works with no errors. The problem is, it shows that the Open and Close (Time fields) are null. But they are
      • Zoho Payroll's Year in Review 2024

        As we roll into 2025, we'd like to pay tribute to all the milestones we hit in 2024! From releasing out new features that streamlined your workflows to updates that made payroll management smoother, we’ve had a prolific year—all while keeping you, our
      • Is there a way to sort report on record template by a specific field like date field

        Hi, Is it possible to sort the report on the record template by the date field and not the default Added Time. Please check the example bellow: The records are sorting by the added time I wand to change that by the date field,
      • Shared subfolders

        Am I right in thinking that there is no Zoho email application that allows me to create a shared inbox and then add additional folders/subfolders under that inbox? If so, this is really quite incredible and probably a deal breaker for us to start using
      • Update Multi select field values to another form table as individual record

        Hi, I am new to coding and do basics within deluge. I need help with the deluge script to meet the following requirement. Form Student Attendance The fields are : Attendance Date Course (Lookup to Course Form) Class (Lookup to Class Form) Students (Multi
      • Shared Mailbox - Mark as read for all users

        Hi all, Maybe someone can help me out. At the moment we have a shared mailbox without streams. When a users reads an mail or marks it as read other users will not see this. How can we resolve this? We now archive the mails when read and followed up. However
      • Allocate emails to user in a shared mailbox

        Hi, This might be obvious, but I cannot find the answer. I have 3 shared mailboxes so any team member can see the emails. Is there a way of allocating a specific email to a user so that it is their responsibility to deal with it? Thanks in advance.
      • How to view shared mailbox in Outlook

        How to view shared mailbox in Outlook or in another software
      • Search mails in shared mailbox

        Hi everyone, is there a way to search mails in shared mailbox's? Search in streams or mail doesn't return anything from mails in shared mailboxes. Thanks! Rafal
      • How to send binary data in invokeurl task?

        Hello, I am using Adobe's Protect PDF API. Source: https://developer.adobe.com/document-services/docs/overview/pdf-services-api/ Everything works fine in Postman. But for some reason after encrypting the file, it is empty after password protecting the
      • Customising the approval email

        Is there anyway to customise the Approval email or to add further fields as the default looks so basic and unlike any of the other email notifications from Desk. My users just thought it was spam.
      • Pushing GCLID info from Gravity Forms to ZohoCRM

        We are switching to Gravity Forms from Zoho Forms and I cannot find any good info on how to make sure my GCLID tracking info is pushed through to the CRM through my new forms. There was an article in the documentation about placing something within the
      • Issue Configuring SSO Integration with Cognito in Zoho Help Center

        Dear Zoho Support Team, We have been working on configuring SSO integration for our Zoho Help Center using Amazon Cognito. While the setup appears to be completed successfully, we are encountering an issue when attempting to access the Help Center. The
      • Need manual aggregate column pathing help

        See linked video here: https://workdrive.zohoexternal.com/external/a5bef0f0889c18a02f722e59399979c604ce0660a1caf50b5fdc61d92166b3e7
      • Add blueprint buttons to listview and kanban

        Hello, just started to use the Blueprints feature - really useful. I have one suggestion to help this work even better - can there be transition buttons that appear on the top of listview & Kanban? Maybe an option as well - "Blueprint transitions appear
      • Merging contacts does fail because of help center membership

        I'm trying to merge two contact records (they are the same contact) where one of them is a member on the help center. The system warns me about this situation and then I de-activate this contact as an "End User" for the help center. Right now the system
      • Duplicate Contacts - how to get merge or delete

        I have noticed that our list of contacts in Zoho Desk duplicates contacts periodically.  I have yet to identify when or why.  How do I merge or delete them?  I see there is a "Deduplicate" but I am unable to find anything that explains this feature.
      • Admin Access to Direct Messages in Zoho Cliq

        Hi Zoho Cliq Team, We would like to request a feature enhancement to enable admin access to one-on-one conversations (direct messages) conducted through Zoho Cliq. Use Case: As administrators, there are situations where it becomes essential to access
      • "Mark as Spam" not working as expected

        Dear support, in the below scenario, clicking on "Mark as spam" identifies only the first of the checked emails as spam, removes that email from the visible list and leaves the rest of the list still visible & unchecked. I've tried check-marking them
      • Massive price increase for user licenses of Zoho Portal

        This actually a complaint about this announcement: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/free-user-licenses-across-all-portal-user-types You present this as an enhancement. And, yes, while reading the main part, I'd agree that (for smaller companies),
      • Next Page