On Fri, Jun 19, 2020 at 2:22 PM Jim Fenton <[email protected]> wrote:

> On 6/19/20 10:41 AM, Todd Herr wrote:
>
> On Fri, Jun 19, 2020 at 1:23 PM Dotzero <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Jun 19, 2020 at 1:09 PM Jim Fenton <[email protected]>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> A verified identity is established by DKIM and/or SPF. What is DMARC
>>> adding in this respect?
>>>
>>> Policy expressed by the  domain owner/administrator based on some
>> combination of DKIM and/or SPF and the feedback loop.
>>
>> Both policy and the feedback loop are actions taken on the basis of
> verification of the identity (or lack thereof). They do not establish the
> identity themselves.
>
>
> Not only that, but DMARC is the only one of the three that is necessarily
> tied to the domain in the (usually) visible in the MUA From header.
>
> That comes back to the question of whether the domain in the From header
> is visible in the MUA, and if visible, does it alter user behavior (e.g.,
> discourage users from clicking phish links). Different people have
> different opinions on that. A couple of messages back on this thread, the
> blocking of email was discussed and that does not relate to visibility of
> the domain in the MUA.
>
>
>
Dave Crocker wrote:

> There is no evidence that end-users are relevant to
> manipulated/fraudulent From: fields or that DMARC's "certifying" the
> domain name of the From: field is relevant to reducing end-user
> vulnerability.
> There is quite a bit of evidence that improving trust signals to end
> users has no significant effect.


Nowhere have I made any claim regarding the alteration of user behavior; I
am speaking solely to the idea of DMARC being used to verify an identity,
specifically the domain in the From header. It's my assumption that this
verification is likely to be done by someone other than the user,
specifically their mailbox provider, whom I further assume will make
acceptance and folder placement decisions for a message based on a
combination of factors, including, but definitely not limited to, the
results of all applicable authentication checks. We don't ask users to
perform SPF or DKIM validation checks, so I don't believe that my
assumptions are inconsistent here.

While it's true to say a verified identity is established by DKIM and/or
SPF, which identity is established by these protocols? I've got mail in my
inbox right now that has:

   - in.constantcontact.com as the Return-Path domain; SPF verdict was
   pass, so in.constantcontact.com was verified as being authorized to send
   from the host that originated the message; if we want to call this the
   verification of an identity, so be it.
   - auth.ccsend.com as the DKIM signing domain; DKIM verdict was pass, so
   auth.ccsend.com was verified as the signer, but definitely not the
   purported author, per RFC 6376, section 1.2
   - $MYGOLFCLUB.com as the From domain; no DMARC policy published, so the
   identity was not verified, but I can tell from the content of the message
   that it's legitimate

Now, this mail was wanted mail, so I'm thankful in this case that the
domain doesn't publish a DMARC policy, or else I might not have gotten the
message. Maybe if they did, Constant Contact would enforce a policy of DKIM
signing with $MYGOLFCLUB.com; I don't know how things work at CC. However,
such a tuple of three unaligned domains isn't unheard of, and it is to me a
textbook case of the need for some mechanism for receiving domains to use
to verify the identity associated with the From header. Without such a
mechanism, then there is nothing, save the Acceptable Usage Policy enforced
by my connectivity provider, to prevent me from sending an unlimited amount
of mail using $MYGOLFCLUB.com in the From domain, along with those
disposable domains mentioned upthread for SPF and DKIM. (Whether or not
such messages reach their destination is an open question, based on the
filtering policies in place at the target domains.)

-- 

*Todd Herr* | Sr. Technical Program Manager
*e:* [email protected]
*p:*


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