National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) recently announced that major changes will apply to their Mail Check service. Among these changes, it is noted that starting from 24 March 2025, they will discontinue their DMARC reporting service. This and numerous other changes will likely have a major influence on how UK public sector organizations carry out their email security practices.
What Are NCSC Mail Changes?
By making changes to its Mail check services, the NCSC Mail service aims to optimize the process of offering mail services to all UK-based organizations while maintaining cost and efficiency levels.
NCSC will still continue checks for the services below:
– DMARC policy strength and errors
– SPF policy effectiveness and errors
– MTA-STS policy strength and errors
– Inbound TLS information, e.g. encryption ciphers, validity of certificates, and other relevant details
While the above services will be maintained, some others will be discontinued, including:
– DMARC aggregate reporting
– DMARC insights
– DKIM checks
– TLS reporting (TLS-RPT)
What Do These Changes Mean for Your Organization?
The discontinuation of DMARC aggregate reporting means that it will be harder to detect email-based threats in time. As a result, phishing attacks are more likely to succeed as they are not prevented when it’s necessary.
Moreover, the lack of DMARC aggregate reports will make it more difficult for organizations to comply with local and international email security standards.
Per the Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF), it is mandatory to implement robust measures (e.g. DMARC aggregate reporting) to identify cyberattack threats in time. The NCSC’s decision to discontinue DMARC aggregate reporting means that such an effective mechanism will no longer be in place and thereby affect a business’s ability to consistently adhere to the standards such as those outlined by the CAF.
Moreover, DMARC necessitates ongoing surveillance to maintain its effectiveness in the face of the ever-evolving changes and regulations. DMARC aggregate reporting played a crucial role in this process, and abonding it could compromise email delivery.
Why Is DMARC Monitoring Crucial for UK Public Sector Organizations
UK public sector organizations should pay particular attention to effective email security measures, as they often deal with sensitive citizen data while also offering high-importance public services to a wide range of audiences in the UK. Therefore, correct DMARC configuration and management are of utmost importance in protecting UK citizens from local and global digital threats and data leaks.
1. Upholding the Credibility and Trust of the General Public
Very often, cybercriminals from hostile states attack public sector organizations to take advantage of the trust of citizens. DMARC monitoring enables authorities to protect official domains from impersonation and misuse, ensuring maximum security and maintaining trust in state communications.
2. Effective Threat Identification
With DMARC reports, you can easily see who is sending emails on behalf of your domain. With these insights, you can detect any dangerous, unauthorized use before it’s too late and thereby act in a timely manner.
3. Financial Matters
As DMARC reporting and ongoing monitoring prevent email-based cyber threats, they also provide significant financial and reputational risk mitigation. Moreover, the need for manual intervention is also reduced, as automated domain protection mechanisms enable to facilitate and optimize IT team operations. Therefore, automated domain protection also helps to save up financial resources that would have otherwise been spent on large numbers of expensive professional personnel.
4. Reducing the Likelihood of Successful Phishing Attacks
Without DMARC enforcement, attackers can It is very easy to impersonate public sector email domains if there is no effective DMARC enforcement mechanism in place. As a result, malicious actors from the UK and other states can steal sensitive data and financial information from UK citizens without encountering any barriers or challenges in the process. DMARC reporting and monitoring, on the other hand, would serve as this important barrier, preventing malicious actors from successfully conducting their phishing or spoofing attempts.
What Can Be Done?
It is recommended by the NCSC to opt for additional DMARC solutions to compensate for the adverse effects of the recent Mail Check modifications. There are numerous alternatives, in the market, so it can often be difficult to choose which one works best for your needs. No matter your business needs and requirements, always pay attention to the following factors when choosing an alternative or additional tool.
- The platform should provide comprehensive DMARC aggregate (RUA) and forensic (RUF) reporting consistently
- It should send you alerts for potential unauthorized use
- The tool should come with an advanced analytics feature
- It is highly recommended that the tool have DKIM checks and TLS reporting functionalities
Why PowerDMARC Is the Best Mail Check Alternative?
PowerDMARC is one example of a Mail Check alternative that meets all of the above criteria and can help you significantly in the process of adhering to local and global standards and benchmarks. PowerDMARC is a powerful tool that provides numerous functionalities, including:
- Google, Yahoo, and PCI-DSS DMARC compliance along with adherence to other requirements and standards
- Ensures improved email deliverability
- DMARC Aggregate (RUA) and Forensic (RUF) reporting capabilities, ensuring consistent and effective monitoring and early detection of any threats
- Support in over 11 languages
- Transformation of raw XML files into human-readable formats, thereby optimizing the whole DMARC reporting process and making DMARC reports comprehensible even for non-tech-savvy individuals
- The human-readable files can easily be exported as custom PDF reports for maximum personalization and collaboration
- Visualizations of sending sources along with filtering capabilities make it very easy to detect potential threats
- Multi-protocol support that encompasses SPF, DKIM, etc.
- Highly responsive customer service team
The NCSC Mail Check changes, including the discontinuation of DMARC reporting, present challenges for UK public sector organizations in maintaining email security and compliance. To mitigate these risks, adopting robust alternatives like PowerDMARC ensures continued threat detection, domain protection, and adherence to cybersecurity standards, safeguarding sensitive data and public trust.
