Email systems are the backbone of business communication, but outdated setups can lead to security risks, inefficiencies, and costly breaches. Here’s how to build a reliable, secure, and scalable email infrastructure:
With 94% of malware delivered via email and phishing responsible for over 90% of cyberattacks, these steps are critical to safeguarding your business. Tools like Mailforge simplify these processes, combining automation and security features to future-proof your email operations.
Creating a resilient email infrastructure means building a system that can handle future challenges effectively. At the heart of this setup are three key components: automation, encryption, and authentication. Together, they form the foundation for secure, reliable email operations, distinguishing well-prepared organizations from those plagued by deliverability and security issues.
DNS (Domain Name System) plays a crucial role in email operations by translating domain names into IP addresses, ensuring proper email routing. Traditionally, configuring DNS manually has been a slow and error-prone process. Automated DNS setup changes the game by speeding up deployment and reducing human error. This is especially useful when scaling email operations, whether you're adding domains for new campaigns or entering new markets. With automation, DNS records can be provisioned in just minutes.
Platforms like Mailforge make this process easier by including automated DNS setup as a standard feature. They handle common DNS records - such as A, CNAME, TXT, and SRV - automatically, ensuring consistency across multiple domains. This automation also makes switching DNS records between web-hosting providers or registrars seamless, minimizing disruptions. Once the domain setup is streamlined, the next priority is securing the data being transmitted.
Protecting email traffic starts with encrypting data during transmission. SSL/TLS encryption provides this layer of protection, ensuring that information remains secure and verifying the sender's identity to prevent Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attacks. Consider this: in 2021, 83% of organizations experienced phishing attacks, and 91% of all cyberattacks began with phishing emails.
"SSL certificates are an encryption-based technology that helps secure the communication between sender and receiver."
– Brittany Day, Author, Guardian Digital
Domain masking adds another layer of security by hiding the sender's identity, which is particularly helpful for organizations managing outreach campaigns or multiple brands. For enterprise-level security, adopting advanced standards like S/MIME is critical. Additionally, selecting a reliable Certificate Authority (CA) for SSL certificates ensures the integrity of your communications. Once encryption and masking are in place, the next step is verifying sender identity through robust authentication protocols.
Email authentication protocols act as digital credentials, helping mailbox providers and spam filters confirm the legitimacy of your emails. Three primary protocols - SPF, DKIM, and DMARC - work together to combat phishing and email spoofing.
The stakes are high: Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams have cost organizations around $50 billion, according to the FBI. Yet, only 34% of the largest 5,000 companies globally use DMARC, and even among those, 75% to 80% struggle with enforcement.
A practical approach to implementing these protocols involves starting with SPF, then adding DKIM, and finally deploying DMARC. Initially setting DMARC to a monitoring policy (p=none) allows you to collect data before enforcing stricter measures. Many Internet Service Providers (ISPs) rely on these protocols to protect users from cyber threats.
"The challenges with DMARC is we often see that it contains an air of mystery about it because not many people understand the underpinning technologies within it."
– Andrew Williams, Principal Product Marketing Director
To maintain a strong security posture, organizations should regularly analyze authentication reports and provide ongoing staff training on email security best practices. This proactive approach helps businesses adapt to evolving threats.
To safeguard email systems from persistent and evolving threats, organizations must go beyond basic authentication protocols and adopt a layered approach to security and compliance. With nearly 350 billion emails sent every day, email remains a primary avenue for cyberattacks. In fact, over 90% of successful cyberattacks begin with an email, and 41% of insurance claims stem from malicious email activity. The following practices build on strong authentication to further bolster security and align with regulatory standards.
Email encryption is a must-have for protecting sensitive information. Use TLS (Transport Layer Security) to secure emails during transit and implement S/MIME or PGP for end-to-end encryption to ensure data remains confidential. Regularly update encryption certificates and enforce strong encryption settings to keep defenses current.
Additionally, secure the underlying protocols - such as SMTP, IMAP, and POP3 - by applying strict configurations. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is another critical layer, capable of preventing over 99.9% of account breaches.
Static defenses alone are insufficient. Continuous monitoring provides real-time visibility into potential threats and enables swift action when incidents occur. Organizations should establish clear monitoring policies, define alert thresholds, and assign specific roles for incident response.
Regular updates and patching are equally important. Develop a structured process to address vulnerabilities across all endpoints, including desktops, laptops, and servers, to mitigate malware risks.
"The alternative to a continuously monitored organization is to be a 'compliance-focused' organization - but as we've said before, compliance does not equal security." – Jake Olcott, VP of Communications and Government Affairs, Bitsight
Employee training plays a pivotal role in strengthening defenses. Conduct regular email security awareness sessions to help staff recognize and report suspicious emails, reducing the risk of human error. With these proactive measures in place, attention can shift to ensuring proper data retention and regulatory compliance.
In the U.S., email compliance requires adherence to various laws and industry regulations that prioritize privacy, security, and ethical practices. Key frameworks include CAN-SPAM, HIPAA, PCI DSS, GLBA, SOX, and FRCP, each imposing specific requirements for email handling and retention. Non-compliance can be costly - violations of the CAN-SPAM Act can result in fines of up to $46,517 per email, while HIPAA penalties range from $100 to $1.5 million per violation.
Organizations should implement email archiving systems that automatically capture, index, and store emails in a tamper-proof format. These systems allow for quick retrieval of communications when needed for legal or regulatory purposes. Compliance is a shared responsibility that involves IT teams, administrators, compliance officers, marketing teams, HR, and employees. Comprehensive email policies should outline acceptable usage, data protection standards, and procedures for handling sensitive information. For marketing emails, ensure explicit consent and maintain transparent privacy policies. Practices like regular list hygiene - removing inactive subscribers and outdated addresses - and using automated email signatures with disclaimers further support compliance and improve email deliverability.
Cloud-based email platforms can simplify compliance efforts by offering scalability, built-in security features, and integrated tools for archiving, monitoring, and reporting. For instance, adopting a platform like Mailforge can help seamlessly implement these measures, meeting both security and compliance requirements with ease.
To keep up with growing email volumes, scalable and automated operations are essential for building a reliable email infrastructure. But scaling isn’t just about sending more emails - it requires careful planning to avoid issues like throttling, high bounce rates, or being flagged as spam. The secret lies in combining smart automation with proven scaling strategies.
Managing email infrastructure at scale can be a logistical nightmare if done manually. Handling hundreds or even thousands of domains and mailboxes without automation is not only slow but also prone to errors.
For businesses sending high volumes of email, using multiple mailboxes is critical. Sending too many emails from a single source can lead to blacklisting. A smart strategy involves calculating the daily sending limits based on email service provider (ESP) restrictions and domain reputation. For example, one small business scaled to sending 20,000 emails per month by purchasing six domains and setting up four mailboxes per domain. They gradually ramped up their sending over three months.
Automation makes this process much faster and more reliable. Tasks like setting up domains and mailboxes, which could take hours or even days manually, can now be completed in just minutes. As one Mailforge user shared:
"Procedures that usually took hours for multiple domains, now take a few minutes."
Automation also reduces errors and streamlines critical processes like authentication setup. Features like DMARC and DKIM are essential for deliverability, and automated systems ensure these are configured correctly. For instance, organizations using DMARC experience 90% fewer phishing attempts, while DKIM reduces the likelihood of email tampering by 30%. Automated tools can handle hundreds of domains and mailboxes, rotating them to balance workloads and minimize the risk of blacklisting. They can even generate varied email addresses to optimize distribution across the infrastructure.
Platforms like Mailforge make this possible by offering bulk DNS updates, domain provisioning, and mailbox management - all handled automatically. This frees up technical teams to focus on bigger-picture projects while ensuring high deliverability rates and seamless integration with different messaging protocols.
As your email infrastructure grows, compatibility across platforms becomes a top priority. A future-ready system should support universal standards like IMAP, SMTP, and JMAP, allowing seamless integration with various tools, from CRM platforms to third-party software.
This flexibility is especially important for organizations with diverse needs. For example, Office365 (Outlook Exchange) might be better suited for large corporate clients, while Google Workspace could work best for startups and small businesses. A scalable infrastructure can accommodate these differences without requiring complex or separate systems.
When evaluating scalable email tools, look for features like:
These tools ensure your email system can adapt to different scenarios without sacrificing efficiency or performance.
Artificial intelligence is changing the game for email infrastructure. Instead of reacting to problems, AI helps businesses predict and prevent them. For example, AI-powered systems can monitor spam complaints and sender scores, addressing deliverability issues before they escalate. During scale-up phases, automated warming processes simulate natural sending behavior, boosting deliverability rates.
AI also optimizes multi-IP provisioning by distributing sending loads across multiple IP addresses. It considers factors like recipient domains, sending history, and real-time deliverability metrics to avoid triggering spam filters. These systems can even analyze recipient engagement patterns, ideal sending times, and content preferences to build a strong sender reputation more effectively than manual methods.
Creating a forward-thinking email infrastructure is crucial to shielding your business from the ever-evolving threats that can lead to massive financial losses. With over 90% of cyberattacks originating from phishing emails and business email compromise scams costing U.S. companies a staggering $2.9 billion in 2023, the stakes have never been higher.
Simple yet powerful measures like multi-factor authentication can prevent more than 99.9% of account compromise attacks. Meanwhile, implementing robust security protocols ensures email remains a top business priority rather than an overlooked technical detail. Automation plays a pivotal role here, offering streamlined solutions like automated DNS setup and bulk domain management to enhance operational efficiency without sacrificing security or compliance.
Emerging technologies, including AI, are reshaping email infrastructure by enabling smarter threat detection and continuous protection against the 3.4 billion phishing emails sent daily. These advancements allow businesses to stay ahead of attackers, adapting to new challenges with agility.
To stay resilient, organizations must treat email infrastructure as a living system - one that demands constant monitoring, regular updates, and adaptability to evolving threats and regulations. By combining automation with rigorous security measures, companies can ensure their systems remain secure and scalable in today’s increasingly complex digital environment.
Tools like Mailforge make this process simpler by automating DNS setup and domain management while maintaining high security standards. Acting now to strengthen your email infrastructure isn’t optional - it’s essential. Delays could expose your organization to incidents costing over $1 million per breach. Prioritize security, embrace automation, and build a system designed to grow and protect your business for the long haul.
Automating DNS setup is a game-changer for email security. By automatically configuring key authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, it ensures that only authorized servers can send emails on your behalf. This significantly cuts down the chances of spoofing and phishing attacks, keeping your communications more secure.
Beyond security, automation also simplifies domain management. It ensures consistent authentication settings across all your domains, making it much easier to manage multiple domains or add new ones as your email system expands. This not only saves time but also reduces the likelihood of errors, making it a practical solution for businesses looking to scale efficiently.
SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are three key email authentication protocols that work hand-in-hand to safeguard your domain against spoofing and phishing attacks. They also play a vital role in improving the chances of your emails landing in recipients' inboxes.
When used together, these protocols create a strong shield against email fraud, help maintain your brand’s integrity, and ensure your messages are delivered as intended.
Keeping email infrastructure secure requires regular updates and ongoing monitoring. These practices are crucial for spotting potential threats early, maintaining the effectiveness of security measures, and fixing vulnerabilities before they can be exploited. Skipping these steps can leave businesses exposed, as outdated systems and missed patches create opportunities for attacks.
To manage this effectively, businesses can rely on automated monitoring tools. These tools provide real-time tracking of activity, making it easier to identify unusual behavior. Additionally, periodic reviews of security settings and prompt application of updates, including software fixes, security patches, and protocol upgrades, are essential. Automation not only streamlines these tasks but also minimizes the chance of human error, ensuring a more consistent and reliable approach to security.