Only Two-Thirds of Federal Domains Meet Email Security Deadline

Only Two-Thirds of Federal Domains Meet Email Security Deadline

In addition to the relatively low install rate, after a year of staggered deadlines to implement the tool, one-fifth of government agency web domains appear not to have even begun installing it, according to the Global Cyber Alliance.

  • By Jessica Davis
  • Oct 18, 2018

About two-thirds (67 percent) of federal email domains met a Department of Homeland Security deadline Tuesday to install and be fully protected by a tool that guards against email phishing scams, according to research from the Global Cyber Alliance.

In addition to the relatively low install rate, after a year of staggered deadlines to implement the tool, one-fifth of government agency web domains appear not to have even begun installing it, according to the GCA.

Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance, known as DMARC, verifies an email sender’s identity by pinging a sender’s email domain to ask if the sender actually belongs to that organization. If the domain reports that the sender is illegitimate, DMARC can automatically deliver the email to the intended recipient’s spam folder or decline to deliver it at all.

In order to work, DMARC must be installed on both the sending and receiving inbox. More than 80 percent of commercial email inboxes have DMARC installed, as it is standard among major email providers like Google and Microsoft.

The tool is especially vital for federal government email domains, which could be used by phishers to try to scam citizens into giving them sensitive personal information related to taxes or government benefits like Medicare.

The 67 percent of government domains that had DMARC installed by the Tuesday deadline is a major increase from the 8 percent that were using the tool when Homeland Security issued the order to install it in 2017, according to Tom McDermott, the department’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Cyber Policy.

Homeland Security plans “to get very close to 100 percent” adoption of the tool “in the near future,” McDermott said.

Defense agencies are not required to comply with Homeland Security’s 2017 DMARC order but were directed to install it whenever possible as part of a defense policy bill passed by Congress in August.

DMARC should be installed across defense domains by the end of the year, according to Defense Chief Information Officer Dana Deasy.

About the Author

Jessica Davis is the Associate Content Editor for 1105 Media.

Featured

  • Achieving Clear Audio

    In today’s ever-changing world of security and risk management, effective communication via an intercom and door entry communication system is a critical communication tool to keep a facility’s staff, visitors and vendors safe. Read Now

  • Beyond Apps: Access Control for Today’s Residents

    The modern resident lives in an app-saturated world. From banking to grocery delivery, fitness tracking to ridesharing, nearly every service demands another download. But when it comes to accessing the place you live, most people do not want to clutter their phone with yet another app, especially if its only purpose is to open a door. Read Now

  • Survey: 48 Percent of Worshippers Feel Less Safe Attending In-Person Services

    Almost half (48%) of those who attend religious services say they feel less safe attending in-person due to rising acts of violence at places of worship. In fact, 39% report these safety concerns have led them to change how often they attend in-person services, according to new research from Verkada conducted online by The Harris Poll among 1,123 U.S. adults who attend a religious service or event at least once a month. Read Now

  • AI Used as Part of Sophisticated Espionage Campaign

    A cybersecurity inflection point has been reached in which AI models has become genuinely useful in cybersecurity operation. But to no surprise, they can used for both good works and ill will. Systemic evaluations show cyber capabilities double in six months, and they have been tracking real-world cyberattacks showing how malicious actors were using AI capabilities. These capabilities were predicted and are expected to evolve, but what stood out for researchers was how quickly they have done so, at scale. Read Now

  • Why the Future of Video Security Is Happening Outside the Cloud

    For years, the cloud has captivated the physical security industry. And for good reasons. Remote access, elastic scalability and simplified maintenance reshaped how we think about deploying and managing systems. Read Now

Most   Popular

New Products

  • EasyGate SPT and SPD

    EasyGate SPT SPD

    Security solutions do not have to be ordinary, let alone unattractive. Having renewed their best-selling speed gates, Cominfo has once again demonstrated their Art of Security philosophy in practice — and confirmed their position as an industry-leading manufacturers of premium speed gates and turnstiles.

  • 4K Video Decoder

    3xLOGIC’s VH-DECODER-4K is perfect for use in organizations of all sizes in diverse vertical sectors such as retail, leisure and hospitality, education and commercial premises.

  • QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    The latest Qualcomm® Vision Intelligence Platform offers next-generation smart camera IoT solutions to improve safety and security across enterprises, cities and spaces. The Vision Intelligence Platform was expanded in March 2022 with the introduction of the QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC), which delivers superior artificial intelligence (AI) inferencing at the edge.