Glossary of Terms

Email Authentication Glossary

Key terms used throughout DMARC Busta and email authentication.

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance)

A protocol that uses SPF and DKIM to determine if an email is legitimate. It tells receiving servers what to do with emails that fail authentication.

SPF (Sender Policy Framework)

A DNS record that lists all servers authorized to send email for your domain. Receiving servers check if the sending IP is in your SPF record.

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)

A cryptographic signature added to emails that proves they haven't been modified in transit and came from an authorized sender.

Alignment

For DMARC to pass, either SPF or DKIM must "align" - meaning the domain in the From header matches the domain that passed SPF or DKIM.

RUA (Aggregate Reports)

Daily summary reports sent by receiving mail servers showing authentication results for your domain. DMARC Busta processes these automatically.

Policy (p=)

The DMARC tag that specifies what to do with failing emails: none (monitor), quarantine (spam folder), or reject (block).

Percentage (pct=)

The DMARC tag specifying what percentage of failing emails the policy applies to. Used for gradual rollout (e.g., pct=10 means 10% of failing emails are affected).

DNS Lookup Limit

SPF records are limited to 10 DNS lookups total. Each include:, a:, mx:, or redirect= counts as a lookup. Exceeding this limit causes SPF to fail.

Confidence Score

DMARC Busta's AI-calculated score (0-100) indicating how trustworthy a source is. Sources with 95%+ confidence can be auto-approved when Autopilot is enabled.

Volume Classification

DMARC Busta categorizes domains by email volume to determine progression speed: Parked (0), Low (<500/month), Moderate (500-5,000), High (5,000+).