Question 1

What is an email security assessment?

Accepted Answer

An email security assessment (also called an email security audit) is a structured review of your organisation's email security configuration — covering SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentication; Microsoft Defender for Office 365 policies; anti-phishing and anti-spoofing controls; email gateway configuration; and third-party sender management. The output is a risk-rated findings report with prioritised remediation recommendations. Most businesses have significant email security gaps — often in areas that are straightforward to fix once identified.

Question 2

What does an email security audit check?

Accepted Answer

Coreitech's email security audit checks: (1) SPF record — authorised senders, syntax errors, lookup limit; (2) DKIM — signing for primary domain and all third-party senders; (3) DMARC — policy level, reporting, subdomain coverage; (4) Microsoft Defender anti-phishing policies — impersonation protection, spoofing intelligence; (5) Safe Links and Safe Attachments policy coverage; (6) Email gateway configuration — connector security, transport rules; (7) Email encryption settings; (8) Third-party sender inventory and SPF/DKIM alignment.

Question 3

How much does an email security assessment cost?

Accepted Answer

Coreitech's email security assessment starts from £500+VAT. This covers a full review of your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC configuration plus your Microsoft Defender for Office 365 email security policies. A combined email and Microsoft 365 security assessment (covering the full M365 tenant) starts from £1,500. We provide a written findings report with risk ratings and a prioritised remediation roadmap. Fixed price — no hourly billing.

Question 4

How long does an email security audit take?

Accepted Answer

An email security audit typically takes 1–2 business days. We access your Microsoft 365 tenant (read-only) and DNS records, review all email security configuration, and deliver the findings report within 3 business days. The audit is entirely remote — no on-site visit required.

Question 5

What are the most common email security failures?

Accepted Answer

The most common findings in email security audits: (1) DMARC at p=none (monitoring only — not preventing spoofing); (2) DKIM not configured for third-party senders (marketing tools, invoicing platforms); (3) Anti-phishing impersonation protection not set up for executives and key domains; (4) Safe Links not covering Teams messages and Office documents; (5) Legacy authentication protocols (SMTP, IMAP) still enabled; (6) No anti-spoofing policy for external senders. We see these in the majority of tenants we assess.

Question 6

Is an email security assessment the same as a DMARC audit?

Accepted Answer

A DMARC audit is a subset of an email security assessment. A DMARC-specific audit focuses solely on SPF, DKIM, and DMARC configuration — identifying gaps that allow email spoofing and brand impersonation. A full email security assessment additionally covers Microsoft Defender anti-phishing, Safe Links, Safe Attachments, email gateway configuration, and encryption. We recommend a full assessment for most businesses, and a DMARC-focused audit for those with a specific spoofing concern.

EMAIL SECURITY
ASSESSMENT

What our email security assessment covers

SPF Configuration

DKIM Signing

DMARC Policy & Reporting

Anti-Phishing Policies

Safe Links & Attachments

Email Gateway Configuration

Email Encryption

Third-Party Sender Inventory