Transport security
4 articles
Email transport security: STARTTLS, MTA-STS, DANE
DMARC proves who sent a message, but it does nothing to protect that message while it crosses the internet. Here is how opportunistic STARTTLS, MTA-STS, DANE and TLS-RPT work together to keep inbound mail encrypted in transit, why STARTTLS alone is trivially downgraded, and the safe order to deploy enforcement without bouncing legitimate mail.
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DANE and TLSA records explained
DANE pins your mail server's certificate in DNSSEC-signed TLSA records so senders refuse to deliver over a downgraded or substituted TLS connection. Here is how TLSA records work, how DNSSEC anchors the trust, how DANE compares with MTA-STS, and which one fits your domain.
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What is MTA-STS and how does it work?
MTA-STS forces encrypted, authenticated delivery of your inbound mail. Learn how the _mta-sts DNS record and the HTTPS-hosted policy file work together, the difference between testing and enforce mode, and exactly how it stops TLS downgrade and interception attacks.
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What is TLS-RPT?
TLS-RPT (SMTP TLS Reporting) is a single safe-to-publish DNS record that gives you a daily, machine-readable summary of how other mail servers negotiated encryption with your inbound MX hosts. Learn what the record and its JSON reports contain, how to decode each failure type, and the exact publish-then-enforce workflow that pairs it with MTA-STS without risking an email outage.
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