DMARC for PCI DSS 4.0: A Good Practice for Securing Emails

PCI DSS 4.0 encourages the implementation of anti-phishing controls like DMARC! This highlights and reinforces the importance of preventative measures against email fraud, domain spoofing, and phishing in the financial space. While not a mandate or a requirement for PCI DSS compliance, DMARC and supporting email authentication technologies like SPF and DKIM play a pivotal role in protecting domain names against misuse.

Organizations can sign up for a DMARC analyzer trial to simplify their DMARC implementation, without the need for technical expertise.

With more than 94% of organizations falling victim to phishing, this is the cue for businesses of all sizes to strengthen domain security and prevent the next big cyber attack. Many organizations turn to email authentication management solutions like PowerDMARC to simplify implementation, monitor authentication, and ensure continuous protection. On the flip side, it also presents a golden opportunity for MSPs to sell DMARC to their clients and grow their business exponentially.

Key takeaways

• PCI DSS v4.0 recommends DMARC as one of the good practices for domain security and impersonation prevention.
• Organizations, system components, people, and processes directly or indirectly handling or processing cardholder data and sensitive authentication data are encouraged to consider these practices.
• With phishing emerging as the top attack vector, representing 39% of incidents, DMARC compliance can be a game-changer for domain owners.
• Failing to implement DMARC may result in financial losses, increased risk of email fraud, and deliverability issues.
• MSPs can leverage this opportunity to provide DMARC-as-a-service to clients, standing out in the cybersecurity market.
• PowerDMARC can help businesses and MSPs meet DMARC compliance easily.

Surge in Domain Spoofing, Impersonation & Phishing

• By December of 2023, there was a 70% increase in phishing attacks in just 3 months.
• Social media and webmail were the most targeted industry sectors for phishing attacks in 2024.
• The US takes first place as the top origin for phishing attacks worldwide.
• Artificial Intelligence has made generating successful email phishing campaigns significantly easier.
• AI-powered phishing attacks have increased by more than 51% in recent years.
• Several top brands have been successfully impersonated in domain spoofing attempts over the last 3 years.

These concerning statistics highlight the importance of adopting phishing prevention and anti-spoofing solutions like DMARC. Yet, many fail to do so even now.

Who Should Consider PCI DSS 4.0 Recommendations?

Cybercriminals deploy sophisticated methods to exploit vulnerabilities within your organization, not sparing email communications. Threat actors are adept at impersonating trusted brands and tricking victims into disclosing private financial information. By implementing DMARC along with related anti-phishing technologies, organizations can better address PCI SSC's efforts to reduce the risk of domain impersonation and phishing attacks.

Phishing doesn't just affect businesses. It goes beyond that to impact all entities handling sensitive information. If your business or service uses email for communication and handles or processes cardholder data, configuring DMARC can benefit you in several ways!

PCI DSS 4.0 good practices and recommendations apply to:

1. Organizations Handling Cardholder Data

Any business that processes, stores, or transmits cardholder data (CHD) or sensitive authentication data (SAD).

Examples: retailers, e-commerce platforms, and financial institutions.

2. Service Providers

Third-party service providers who are responsible for acquiring, processing, accepting, or issuing cardholder data on behalf of other organizations.

Examples: payment gateways, processors, and managed IT service providers.

3. Entities Storing or Transmitting Cardholder Data

Organizations that store, process, or transmit cardholder data, even if they do not directly handle payments.

Examples: cloud service providers and data centers.

4. System Components and Individuals

Any system components (e.g., servers, applications, or devices) or individuals directly or indirectly connected to systems that handle cardholder data.

Examples: IT administrators, developers, and security teams.

5. Indirectly Connected Systems

Entities with system components that are indirectly connected to systems handling cardholder data.

Examples: marketing platforms or customer support tools that interact with payment systems.

6. Small, Mid-Sized, and Enterprise-Level Businesses

The mandate applies to organizations of all sizes, from small businesses to large enterprises.

Compliance is not limited by the scale of operations but by the involvement in cardholder data handling.

Consequences of Failing to Implement DMARC

Organizations, irrespective of size, must ensure they are taking adequate measures to prevent impersonation attempts, spoofing, and phishing attacks. DMARC is one of the recommended methods for doing that! Failure to implement DMARC correctly may result in:

1. Risk of impersonation: the heightened risk of brand impersonation through domain spoofing attempts.
2. Loss of trust: Reputational damage as a result of excessive spam complaints.
3. Low email deliverability rates: Induced poor email deliverability due to a lack of customer trust and poor domain reputation.

How DMARC Helps

Implementing DMARC is more than just a compliance requirement—it's a powerful tool to safeguard your organization's email security. Here's how DMARC can benefit your business:

• Prevents Email Fraud – Blocks phishing, spoofing, and unauthorized email use, reducing cyber threats.
• Improves Email Deliverability – Ensures legitimate emails reach inboxes, minimizing spam filtering issues.
• Enhances Domain Security – Provides visibility into email traffic and stops unauthorized senders.
• Protects Brand Reputation – Prevents domain impersonation, reinforcing trust with customers.
• Ensures Compliance – Meet global email security standards and requirements.
• Delivers Actionable Insights – Generates reports to optimize email authentication and security.

A Key Opportunity for MSPs to Benefit From

The new PCI DSS DMARC recommendation is more than just a good practice - it is a golden opportunity for MSPs to acquire more clients and scale their business. Managed Service Providers can explore DMARC MSP partnership programs to ride this wave of success.

1. Offer DMARC-as-a-Service: MSPs can help their clients achieve DMARC compliance by offering DMARC implementation, monitoring, and management services.
2. Strengthen Client Domain Security: MSPs can assist clients in enforcing their DMARC policies to prevent sophisticated email-based threats like phishing, spoofing, BEC, and ransomware.
3. Open Up a New Revenue Stream: By providing DMARC deployment and management services, MSPs can double their profits while investing only a fraction of the amount into adding DMARC to their service stack.
4. Stand Out in the Market: Businesses are always on the lookout for innovative cybersecurity solutions to handle compliance complexities with ease! By adding DMARC solutions to their service portfolio, MSPs can position themselves as the go-to DMARC Compliance service provider.

How PowerDMARC Helps Businesses & MSPs

PowerDMARC is the one-stop solution for all email authentication and domain security needs! Specializing in simplified DMARC management and monitoring services, it also offers a comprehensive DMARC MSP solution for managed service providers. The platform smartly integrates AI and automation by leveraging Threat Intelligence technology. It's the perfect blend of simple and seamless implementation and robust effectiveness. PowerDMARC can help in the following ways:

Quick and Instant DMARC Deployment

• Automated tools to instantly create and publish your DMARC records.
• Hosted DMARC for easy management and monitoring.
• Simplified reporting to keep track of your email deliverability.

SPF Error Mitigation Support

• Hosted SPF for effortless SPF implementation and management.
• SPF Macros for instant SPF record optimizations to stay under DNS lookup and void limits.
• Easy SPF error handling and troubleshooting.

Advanced Threat Intelligence

• Predictive threat intelligence analysis to detect attack patterns and trends.
• Detect early signs of phishing and spoofing to prevent them at the root.

MSSP Benefits

1. Multi-tenant and multi-language control panel
2. Full platform white labeling and rebranding
3. Extensive API endpoints
4. Dedicated MSP sales, support, and marketing assistance

Final Thoughts

With evolving security standards, businesses should focus on strengthening their email security. While not a requirement, the payment card industry includes implementing DMARC as a recommended good practice that helps protect against phishing, spoofing, and domain impersonation. As major providers like Google and Yahoo enforce DMARC for bulk senders, adopting email authentication can enhance security and improve email deliverability.

To make DMARC compliance effortless, thousands of organizations and MSPs choose PowerDMARC as their compliance partner. PowerDMARC facilitates fast and hassle-free DMARC deployment backed by AI-powered automation, threat intelligence, and expert support.