DMARC: Weapon against Domain and Brand Spoofing

Phishing attack or Email Spoofing is a growing problem for internet users. Phishers send Email messages to internet users that attempt to trick them into disclosing confidential information. Sometimes, these messages turn out to be very dangerous, if the user is not able to identify fraudulent messages and got tricked by the phishers. So, the better way to save users from phishers is to stop these messages before they reach the user mailboxes. DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) is playing a very important role in preventing Phishing attack or Email Spoofing problems.

DMARC specification is based on the two authentication policies:

• SPF (Sender Policy Framework) 
• and/or DKIM (Domain Keys Identified Mail) authentication, 

SPF (Sender Policy Framework) authentication checks the IP address sender whether it exists among the list of DNS record of the authorized domain used by the MAIL-FROM address or not. It authenticates the domain found in an [SMTP] MAIL command.

DKIM (Domain Keys Identified Mail) Signatures authenticates the domain name identity that is associated with the email message. This is done by cryptographic authentication. Encrypted key is used to sign the message and a public key is added as a DNS record to the domain indicated in the DKIM signature. A domain-level identifier is added in the content of the "d=" tag of a validated signature.

Before DMARC, there was no hard and fast rule that what ISPs need to do with non-authenticated messages. All non-authenticated emails were not rejected as a result of that many were allowed to reach the inbox.

But now, by using DMARC policy senders instruct Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to handle fraudulent and non-authenticated messages. When a message cannot be authenticated or can be authenticated, but does not pass the DMARC “test” then, email receivers sends a  reports to the sender about the sent messages. ISPs then, deliver messages that can be successfully authenticated and pass the “DMARC test”, other messages are rejected before reaching user mailboxes.

Benefit of using DMARC:
With the use of this policy, non-authorized entity cannot send messages that spoof the company’s main domain. If someone who is not the legitimate owner of the domain“myCompany.com”, will try to  deliver messages from “alerts@myCompany.com” then, the sent messages will be rejected automatically before being delivered to user.

In this way brands are protected from spoofing or phishing as the email messages sent by someone who tried to spoof the company’s main domain will never reach their customers. Thus, DMARC helps companies to fight against the hi-jacking/spoofing of their identity.

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4 most wanted Apps to Synchronize Outlook with Android

Android is an operating system that is used on a variety of Smartphones. If you are a Google App user then you may use "Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook" to synchronize Android and Gmail settings for emails, calendars and contacts etc. If you aren't a Google Apps user then other paid and free solutions are available. There is no single synchronization application in Android devices to manage these settings.

Following are 4 fantastic Apps which impressed me… 
App 1: You can download and install "Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook"

“Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook” is used to import your outlook settings and mail items which are available free of charge for Google Apps business account users. It supports  Microsoft Outlook 2003, 2007, or 2010 .

To use this app you need to: 
1.Sign up for Google Apps account.
2. Install Google Apps Sync on your system.
3.After installing “Google Apps Sync” you will be prompted to sign in to your Google Apps account.
4. Now, you need to create a Google Apps profile for use in Outlook.
You can import data from your existing Outlook profile to your Google Apps account, and set a few other options. However, you can skip this step if you want to import later.

App 2: "Google Calendar Sync software" to synchronize your Outlook calendar with Google calendar which will sync with your Android phone.

How to do it:
1.Download the Google Calendar Sync software
2.Enter your Gmail account information
3.Select 2-Way sync as this will sync your Outlook with Gmail
4.Set sync interval in minutes
5.That’s it!

After following these steps, whenever you will enter calendar entries in Microsoft Outlook, Gmail or your Android phone, all places will be synced automatically.

 App 3:  "gSyncit" software to synchronize Outlook and Android

It helps you to synchronize your Outlook calendars, contacts, notes and tasks with and Google calendar, documents and Gmail contacts. With the help of gSyncit you can get updates for your Android via your Google account. If any change has been made on your Android then that will be automatically synchronized back to Outlook.


App 4:  "CompanionLink" program to sync Outlook with your Android contacts, calendar and notes.

It synchronizes your information via USB, wireless network, Google or a hosted site. This can be used along with Gmail to have full synchronization between Outlook and Android.CompanionLink works together with DejaOffice on your Android device. DejaOffice is a free CRM app for Android.

For using CompanionLink follow the below steps:
   1.  Firstly Install CompanionLink on your System. then you need to configure it to synchronize with Android using DejaConnect USB.
   2. After installing CompanionLink, install DejaOffice on your Android device. Then,Configure it to use DejaConnect USB.
   3. In the final step, Connect your device to the System, then click the Sync button in CompanionLink.


Also you can synchronize your outlook with Android manually, let’s see how we can do it…
 Synchronize Android manually with Exchange server:
If you are using Outlook with Exchange then android supports a direct connection to the Exchange server to synchronize email, contacts, calendar and tasks.

Set it up by following below steps:

• Go to "Accounts" section of the menu in Android and then, create a new account
• Select "Exchange Account" as the account type during the setup process 
• Enter your domain user name, password and Exchange address in the prompt box
• You can synchronize any or all of your information. It will also prompt you to enter the information you want to  synchronize
• After completion of the setup, Android will connect directly to the Exchange server

There are varieties of software available in market to synchronize Outlook with Google or directly with Android. You may choose any of the available software that has the desired set of features.
I hope this post will prove helpful to you for synchronizing Outlook with Android. You can suggest me through your comments…

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Do it Your Self (DIY): EDB to PST Conversion

Microsoft Exchange server is growing in popularity day by day. It is a server-based email client which is used in small and big business the organization within and outside organization for smoothing the communication flow via emails.EDB files are easily prone to corruption  which lead to inaccessibility of the important data and information. Maintenance of Exchange servers and there database  need  very sophisticated system setup.EDB file corruption  might cause devastating effects on your business and hamper functioning of the organization.

What to do if your EDB file got corrupted?

You can easily restore you data from updated backup if your EDB file got corrupted.The EDB corruption problem becomes more severe,if you don’t have updated or recent backup of your exchange database.

No need to worry in that case too , the solution then is to use  exchange repair and convert tools for smoothest and advanced repairing and restoring your damaged EDB files.If you are sufering from data loss due to physical damage of the mail server then  professional data recovery services can help you to recover your data.

However, Sometimes the physical damage is so severe that it  falls outside the scope of any recovery software. So, It is always better to keep an upadated backup of your EDB database.

Some common features of EDB to PST Conversion tools are discussed below.

However, these features may vary from tool to tool.

• You can convert EDB file into PST format and then, easily access that by importing into MS Outlook.
• EDB File is converted to PST file without any modification in the original data and format. 
• You can extract all your mail components such as Contacts, Tasks, Appointments Notes, Journals, and Draft etc.
• You can perform the conversion process in online mode as well as off-line mode. Offline conversion is done when there is a scheduled or planned shutdown of Exchange server. Also, it is faster than on-line conversion.
• You can convert EDB to EML or MSG Files in offline mode.
• You can restore accidentally deleted Off-Line EDB mailboxes.
• You can perform selective conversion i.e. you can convert either any particular, multiple, or all the mailboxes of the Exchange Server. 

EDB to PST conversion tool can easily handle various types of EDB file issues and also in a very convenient way re-built corrupt EDB file to PST file without any trouble. EDB recovery tools help you to easily recover corrupted, deleted, inaccessible EDB mails, Contacts, Tasks, Appointments Notes, Journals, and Draft etc. The EDB to PST recovery software allows you to scan priv1.EDB or Pub1.EDB file and easily read single or multiple EDB mailboxes. EDP to PST Converter software help administrator/user to recover corrupted EDB files and restore them in user mailboxes in a new PST file.

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An Indication of EDB File Corruption

Exchange User Mailboxes information is stored in .EDB files. EDB files store all Mailboxes information such as Contacts, Calendar, Appointments, Journals etc .If EDB file gets corrupted then, stored data becomes inaccessible. EDB file corruption may occur due to break down in exchange server connection or violation in exchange environment.

You may face the following problems due to EDB file corruption:

• Corrupted or damaged EDB headers 
• Deleted user mailboxes 
• Jet Engine Errors 
• Exchange dirty shutdown state 
• JET_errRecordNotFound, the key was not found”, "Jet_errRecordDeleted".Server Specific Error 4294966781 equates to JET_errInvalidLogSequence. The log files are out of sequence. 
• Unable to initialize the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service. 
• Exchange Server Error Code 528 
• JET_errBadDbSignature -531 
• JET_errConsitentTimeMismatch -551 
• JET_errDatabaseStreamingFileMismatch -540 
• JET_errDatabaseDirtyShutdown -550 
• JET_errInvalidDatabase -1028 
• JET_errInvalidDatabaseId -1010 
• Exchange Server goes down 
• “The System Cannot Find the Path Specified”
• “Error Opening Message Store”
• “The information store terminated abnormally”
• “Sever Specific Error 4294966278 (JET_errReadVerifyFailure)” 
• “Corrupted header information” 
• # 614. All future database updates will be rejected. Information Store (3420) Unable to rollback operation. 
• #65678740 on database C:\EXCHSRVR\mdbdata\priv1.edb. 
• # Duplicate Keys (Identifiers)

Well, no need to worry, this problem is not that much severe. You can overcome this problem with the help of Exchange Server database recovery software. You can convert EDB file to PST file and then import that PST file in MS Outlook. It is the most reliable and simpler solution for accessing corrupt EDB database. 

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What is EDB file?

Exchange server database is built by using Extensible Storage Engine (ESE) technology. The ESE engine employs several files to build database. Exchange server stores data in EDB files. ‘In-process’ and ‘non-SMTP’ messages both are stored in EDB files.

EDB files are stored in b-tree structure, which includes a top level node and many child nodes.Priv1.edb and Pub1.edb are the main EDB files used for the Exchange information store.

All the information about user mailboxes is stored within several EDB files. The EDB file acts as a pointer to the user’s MS Outlook profile. It is also known as repository of all sent/received emails as well as information related to these emails.

Location of EDB file:

When you install Exchange 2000 the default location for your databases and transaction log files will be exchsrvr\MDBDATA.

Due to corruption of EDB file you may get the error message:

“Database page read failed verification because of a -1018 error”.

Above error message indicates that the database verification was failure because of some page checksum mismatched. This specific database page is a file in Exchange Store and thus error specifies that the individual file (may be priv1.edb) is damaged or corrupt.

Here are some major reasons for EDB file corruption:

• User mailbox deletion
• Software and hardware malfunctioning
• Exchange Server crash
• EDB .log file Deletion
• Power outage
• Power failure
• Trojan infection or Virus attack
• Dirty system shutdown can cause corruption to EDB files
• Malfunctioning in application can harm EDB files
• Over sized files using more space.
• The errors due to the JET engine in the system.
• The corruption of your file header.
• Virus Attack.
• Duplicate key error
• Accidental deletion of user’s mailbox
• Errors due to file transmit.

Due to EDB File Corruption you cannot access your emails, calendar, contacts and other essential information which is stored in your mailbox that is located on Exchange Server. To open corrupted EDB files, you need to repair them. For that, you require some Exchange server recovery software that let you extract mail data from a corrupt EDB File or damaged Exchange store that cannot be attached to server.

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When it is Required to Convert DBX to PST?

"Folders.dbx" is the master index of the entire Store Folder in Outlook Express. The mails in outlook express are stored in DBX file. The store folder contains a set of DBX files. These files are prone to corruption when the database size increases. There might be other reasons for DBX file corruption such as interrupted folder compaction, accidently system shutdown, third party interaction, corruption in DBX, MBX files, system background compaction and virus infection etc.

Corrupted DBX may cause following errors in your mailbox:

• "Error 0x800C013C".
• "The message could not be deleted".
• "Outlook Express could not be started because Msoe.dll could not be initialized".
• "An Outlook Express store file may be damaged".
• "Error 0x800C012E5".
• "MSIMN caused an invalid page fault in module Msoe.dll at address".
• MSIMN caused an invalid page fault in module Msoe.dll.
• MSIMN caused an invalid page fault in module "unknown".
• MSIMN caused an invalid page fault in module Directdb.dll.
• MSIMN caused an exception C0000006h in module Directdb.dll.
• Outlook Express: The message could not be sent. There is not enough Disk space.
• Unknown error has occurred. Protocol: SMTP Port: 0 Secure: No [SSL] Error: 0x800c0131

When the file "Folders.dbx" gets corrupted then the solution is to delete the corrupt file from the Store Folder. That will allow Outlook Express to start and to build a new "Folders.dbx" by re-indexing all DBX files it finds in the Store Folder.

If your DBX files got corrupted then you may follow the given steps to get back the lost information:

• Re-create your mail folder hierarchy by dragging folders into place in the Folder list.
• Re-download the list of newsgroups from each news account.
• Reset your subscribed newsgroups and download messages again.
• Reset synchronization options on IMAP and newsgroup folders.
• Edit any message rule that moves or copies messages to folders other than the Inbox.
• These steps help you to recover lost information. In case your information is not recovered yet then it is important for you to convert DBX to PST file through DBX to PST converter software that can surely help you to get your lost data back.  DBX File corruption is not only the single reason for DBX file to PST file conversion.

There might be others reasons:

• You may need to convert your DBX file to PST file due to Job Change & change in working environment.
• If you want to change your email client or want to move to MS office just to upgrade it from Outlook express. Then, you need to convert your DBX file to PST file because MS office supports PST file format only.

So, there is no need to panic if DBX file got corrupted or you want to change your email client .You can choose a DBX to PST converter software from a wide variety of tools available.

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Do You Know Why DBX File Gets Corrupt?

Outlook Express is included with Internet Explorer as an e-mail and news client. Msimn.exe file is part of Outlook express. MSIMN is the executable file for Outlook Express. It is a default email application in Microsoft Windows. Msimn.exe should not be removed while you have Outlook Express open. MSIMN.exe will be located by default at c:\program files\outlook express\

The mails in outlook express are stored in DBX file. The store folder contains a set of DBX files.

Outlook folders are indexed by name folders.dbx. For example, Inbox.dbx, Sent Items.dbx and Deleted Items.dbx. Inbox.dbx, Sent Items.dbx, Drafts.dbx, and Deleted Items.dbx and so on. The DBX files stores within the "Documents and Settings" user directory. If you want to backup e-mail messages, you may copy these files to any other storage location or device."Folders.dbx" is the master index of the entire Store Folder .While copying DBX files from one Store Folder, you must copy Folders.dbx too otherwise you may unable to access Outlook Express.

Location of DBX file:

You can easily find the actual path to the DBX folders by clicking:

Tools>Options>Maintenance>Store Folder.

When the database increases in size, it may lead to DBX files corruption.

Here are some major reasons for DBX file corruption:

• Invalid page fault in module Msoe.dll caused by MSIMN.
• Invalid page fault in module Msoe.dll at address caused by MSIMN.
• Outlook Express may not be installed correctly that leads to errors while starting Outlook Express.
• Outlook Express could not be started because Msoe.dll could not be initialized.
• Over sized DBX file above 2GB
• Folder Compaction Interrupted
• Accidentally system shutdown
• Third party interaction
• Corruption in DBX, MBX files
• System Background Compaction
• Virus Infection etc.

"Folders.dbx" is the master index of the entire Store Folder. In case it got corrupted then we cannot do anything in Outlook Express. The solution for this problem is to delete the corrupt file from the Store Folder. When Outlook Express will start, it will build a new "Folders.dbx" and re-index all DBX files that it finds in the Store Folder. It may slow down the system and also lead to severe data problems. To open corrupted DBX files, you need to convert DBX File to PST File. DBX file is a very important file in Outlook Express So, It is better to backup and clean up your emails periodically.

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How to resolve Outlook Error code 0x80040116?

Have you ever faced MS outlook error code 0x80040116 while accessing MS Outlook? If your answer is 'Yes' then I believe you must have tried the Inbox Repair tool (Scanpst.exe) or the 2 GB Truncation tool.

Here I am discussing how you can fix Outlook Error code 0x80040116:

First of all you may try some manual steps:

1. Create new mail profile.

2. Attach the existing PST file that you want to use.

3. Now you can use the existing pst file without any error.

You may also use Inbox Repair tool (Scanpst.exe) to resolve this error. But this tool has few limitations such as:

• It can only repair corrupt PST with header corruption and not any other issue.
• Sometimes it may report that no errors were found.

To resolve this issue, you will have to run the "2 GB Truncation" tool or PST crop tool.

Fix All Outlook Errors & Restore Mail Items with Outlook PST Repair Software

You may try the following method to recover your PST file:

- First run the "2 GB Truncation" tool

- Run the Inbox Repair tool

- and then open the repaired file.

Run the '2 GB Truncation' Tool:

1. Download the '2 GB Truncation' tool (Pst2gb.exe) from the Microsoft Download Center.

2. Extract the 2gb152.exe file to an empty folder. 

3. Click Start Search.

4. On the Tools > Folder Options >View 

5. Click Show hidden files and folders, click to clear the Hide extensions for known file types check box, click to clear the Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) check box, click Yes to confirm that you want to display protected operating system files, and then click OK.

6. Under What do you want to search for?, click All files and folders.

7. In the All or part of the file name box, type .pst.

8. In the Look in list, click Local Hard Drives (C:), and then click Search.

9. Note the path to the .pst file that you want to repair. By default, this file is named Outlook.pst.

10. Click Start Run, type pathpst2gb.exe -s, and then click OK. 

11. Click Continue, and then click Browse.

12. Click the .pst file that you want to repair, and then click Open. By default, this file is named Outlook.pst.

13. Click Create, type a new unique file name for the .pst file such as Outlook-2 in the File name box, and then click 'Save'.

14. In the Oversized PST Recovery Tool dialog box, click Start.

15. After you run the tool, click OK, and then click Close.

Run the Inbox Repair Tool:

1. Open Scanpst.exe by searching it from Search option in the Start menu.

2. Browse and open the .pst from the folder that contains the new .pst file that you created by using the '2 GB Truncation' tool.

3. Click Start and then Repair button to repair the errors in the file.

4. Once the 'Repair complete' message appears, click OK and then restart the computer.

Open the Repaired File in Outlook:

1. Start Outlook.

2. On the File Open Personal Folders File (.pst)

3. Open the folder that contains the new .pst file that you created and repaired.

4. Click the new .pst file, and then click OK.

5. Copy the data from each folder in Recovered Personal Folders to the 'Outlook Today - (Personal Folders)' folders.

In case the above procedure does not work for you, then you can try other repair tools available in market. These tools provide you a lot of features to recover your corrupted PST file. Also, I personally advise you to keep backup copies of your email files so that you can easily recover the lost pst files if corruption occurs.

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How to Solve Outlook Error Code 0x80040116

Recently, I have faced a MS Outlook error code 0x80040116 and it is very common error message that may hamper proper functioning of MS Outlook and also makes your mails inaccessible. Error code 0x80040116 is for time out error which you get when you try to send or receive any email.

While opening PST file or starting MS Outlook, you may get other similar error messages:

• "Outlook.pst cannot be accessed – 0x80040116"
• "Sending and receiving reported error (0x80040116): unknown error 0x80040116"
• "Outlook.pst cannot be accessed - 0x80040116(where "Outlook.pst" is .pst file name)"

Fix All Outlook Errors & Restore Mailbox Items with Outlook PST Repair Software

Causes of the error:

• Damaged or corrupted PST index file: PST index file is used by MS Outlook to handle the requests of the users. If the entire index file gets damaged then PST file could not be opened.
• If PST got corrupted due to the 2 GB PST size limit
• PST file may also gets corrupted due to
  • Virus attack,
  • Abrupt system shut down
  • Sudden power cut
  • And many other software and hardware reasons.
• If connection between server and outlook application terminated while you are sending or receiving any email then you get this error message and not able to open your PST file. After establishing reconnection, you may fix this error.
• This error is also related with Account setting in different versions of outlook (Outlook 2000, Outlook 2003, and Outlook 2007) you are using. If you are getting this error recheck your setting and make it correct. 

Symptoms:

You may get the error code in different situations such as:

1. When opening Outlook
   
2. While trying to open a PST file
   
3. While clicking the Send/Receive Emails button
   
4. While trying to view Outlook’s Personal Folders settings
   

Solution to the problem

You may use Inbox Repair tool (Scanpst.exe) to resolve this error. But it is not sure that your problem will get resolved, it might be possible that Scanpst.exe tool may report that no errors were found. To resolve this error you may try the "2 GB Truncation" tool and the Inbox Repair tool But If these tools do not help you then you may try third party repair tools to achieve quicker and successful PST file recovery. You may check my next post, if you want to know more about how to use scanpst.exe and crop tool to resolve this error.

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