𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐌𝐓𝐏 𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐄 𝐢𝐧 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞 365
Inbound SMTP DANE (DNS-Based Authentication of Named Entities) is a security protocol designed to secure email communication by ensuring the authenticity of the receiving mail server's encryption certificates when emails are delivered via the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP).
By default, SMTP doesn't guarantee encryption, which makes it vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks. To secure email communication, SMTP can use STARTTLS, which upgrades a plain text connection to an encrypted one. However, STARTTLS by itself doesn't verify the authenticity of the receiving mail server's certificate, leaving it vulnerable to attacks where a malicious entity might impersonate the server.
DANE addresses this issue by enabling domain owners to publish their mail server’s encryption certificates in DNS records, which are protected by DNSSEC (Domain Name System Security Extensions). This allows sending mail servers to verify the authenticity of the receiving mail server's certificate before establishing an encrypted connection.
When an email is received, the receiving mail server uses DANE to publish its certificate in the DNS, allowing the sending server to check the certificate's validity before establishing a secure TLS connection. This ensures that emails are delivered over an encrypted connection and that the encryption certificate is trustworthy and has not been tampered with.
Watch my YouTube video bellow on how to run on inbound SMTP DANE in Office 365
https://youtu.be/UEAlyU3CTHk