What is email impersonation and how can you prevent it in 2025?

Email impersonation isn’t just an IT problem. It’s a silent storm, quietly eroding your brand’s reputation, customer trust, and financial stability. It’s no longer a question of if cybercriminals will target your brand—it’s a matter of when.

Imagine: Your customers receiving emails that look like they’re from your brand. They trust these messages, click on them, and unknowingly walk into a cyber trap. This isn’t a hypothetical scenario. This is email impersonation, and it’s happening every single day online.

You’re already taking the first step toward defending against email impersonation by reading this article. Taking a proactive approach can help prevent successful attacks and mitigate damage to your brand.

Below, we’ll cover what email impersonation entails, why it’s a threat in 2025, and (most importantly) how to protect your brand by implementing smart, robust defenses against it.

What is email impersonation?

Email impersonation is a deceptive tactic cybercriminals use to trick victims into believing they’re a trustworthy entity when they’re not. They use this trust to get customers and employees to share sensitive information, click on malicious links, and transfer funds.

It’s a prevalent form of cyberattack that exploits the inherent trust we place in our inboxes and the people (and businesses) we communicate with.

Email impersonation isn’t new, but it has been rising significantly in recent years. The surge in remote work and the global shift towards digital communication have made it easier for cybercriminals to exploit vulnerabilities and conduct sophisticated impersonation attacks.

Successful attacks can cause:

• Financial loss – direct fraud and remediation costs.
• Reputational damage – eroding customer trust.
• Legal consequences – data breaches and compliance violations.

Different types of email impersonation attacks

Understanding the most common impersonation tactics helps you develop better prevention strategies. As of 2025, the prevalent attacks include:

1. Sender name impersonation – using a display name that mimics a legitimate entity.
2. Domain spoofing – using a domain that closely resembles the legitimate one.
3. Look‑alike domain attacks – registering a visually similar domain to send fake emails.
4. Compromised email account attacks – hijacking a legitimate account.
5. Business Email Compromise (BEC) – impersonating a high‑ranking official.
6. Whaling – targeting top executives.
7. Man‑in‑the‑Email attack – inserting yourself into an existing email thread.

How to stop email impersonation

Knowing the threat is one thing—but learning how to stop an impersonation attack is another. While tactics evolve, the following best practices provide a solid defense.

1. Implement DMARC, DKIM, and SPF

Deploying email authentication protocols safeguards your brand against domain spoofing and phishing attacks:

• DMARC: Gives domain owners the ability to protect their domain from unauthorized use. 👉 https://www.palisade.email/tools/email-security-score
• DKIM: Adds a digital signature to verify the message wasn’t altered. 👉 https://www.palisade.email/tools/email-security-score
• SPF: Specifies which mail servers are permitted to send email on behalf of your domain. 👉 https://www.palisade.email/tools/email-security-score

Setting these up can be complex, which is why Palisade Enforce automates the journey to DMARC enforcement without manual DNS configuration.

2. Stay informed about the latest cyberattacks

Regularly review threat intelligence reports and participate in security communities to anticipate emerging tactics.

3. Use multifactor authentication (MFA)

MFA adds an extra verification step, preventing unauthorized access even if credentials are compromised.

4. Train your employees

Provide ongoing security awareness training and run simulated phishing campaigns to improve detection skills.

5. Monitor for cyberthreats

Continuous monitoring helps you detect suspicious activity early. Palisade Monitor offers free domain‑watching and DMARC report analysis.

6. Perform regular audits and simulated attacks

Conduct security audits and red‑team exercises to uncover gaps before attackers do.

7. Mitigate impact with an incident response plan

Define clear steps for containment, eradication, recovery, and post‑incident analysis.

8. Adopt BIMI

Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) displays your logo next to authenticated emails, reinforcing brand trust.

For a deeper dive into email authentication best practices, check out our guide on email authentication best practices.

Prevent email impersonation with Palisade

The threat isn’t disappearing—it’s evolving. Stay ahead with Palisade Monitor, a free tool that surfaces hidden email services, simplifies DMARC reporting, and accelerates enforcement.

Start your journey for email impersonation protection with Palisade to keep your brand’s communication secure, authentic, and trusted by your stakeholders.

Quick Takeaways

• Email impersonation can cause financial loss, reputational damage, and legal risk.
• Common attack vectors include sender‑name spoofing, domain spoofing, look‑alike domains, and BEC.
• Implement DMARC, DKIM, and SPF to verify legitimate senders.
• Use MFA and employee training to reduce credential‑theft risk.
• Continuous monitoring with Palisade Monitor helps detect and block impersonation attempts.
• Adopt BIMI to reinforce brand authenticity in recipients’ inboxes.
• Regular audits and incident response plans minimize impact of successful attacks.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How does DMARC protect my organization from email impersonation? DMARC combines SPF and DKIM results to tell receiving servers how to handle unauthenticated mail, providing reporting that helps you identify abuse.
2. What is the difference between DKIM and SPF? DKIM adds a cryptographic signature to each email, while SPF lists authorized sending IP addresses. Both work together under DMARC.
3. Can BIMI prevent phishing attacks? BIMI doesn’t block phishing by itself, but it adds a trusted logo to authenticated messages, making phishing attempts easier to spot.
4. How often should I review my DMARC reports? Review reports at least weekly during rollout, then monthly once policies are enforced.
5. What steps should I take after a successful impersonation attack? Activate your incident response plan: contain the breach, notify affected parties, analyze the vector, and tighten authentication controls.