Build a weekly email security scorecard with an API

Executives need a concise view of email and domain risk, while security teams need enough detail to verify every change. An API-driven scorecard connects those needs by turning recurring trust checks into consistent, auditable reporting.

Trusted Sender Score can help assess domain reputation, DKIM configuration, DMARC policy strength, and anti-spoofing exposure. Instead of relying on screenshots or manual lookups, teams can collect the same indicators each week and show whether risk is improving or deteriorating.

This approach suits Australian organisations with distributed operations across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and regional offices. A scheduled process can account for AEST and AEDT changes, vendor review cycles, and the reporting expectations of boards, insurers, and customers.

The finished report should be brief enough for an executive pack but supported by a detailed record of domains, findings, timestamps, and remediation status. That combination makes the scorecard useful for decision-making rather than just a technical health check.

Define the reporting outcome

Start by deciding what the weekly report must communicate. A practical scorecard might include the number of domains checked, average trust score, domains with failed DKIM, domains without an enforcing DMARC policy, and high-risk changes since the previous run.

Separate operational metrics from executive indicators. Security staff may need selector details, DNS observations, and raw API responses, while executives usually need trends, risk categories, business owners, and the potential effect on customer communication or brand impersonation.

Set thresholds before collecting data. For example, classify a domain as critical when it has a poor reputation or an absent DMARC record, high when authentication is incomplete, and monitored when its configuration is acceptable but has changed recently. Document these rules so a score means the same thing every week.

Prepare API access and scope

Create an API credential through the platform’s supported developer workflow and store it in a secrets manager rather than in a spreadsheet or script. Restrict access to the service account responsible for reporting, rotate keys periodically, and record which system made each request.

Define the domain inventory before scheduling checks. Include corporate domains, sending subdomains, customer-facing portals, marketing platforms, and important third parties. The bulk domain guide can help structure larger inventories and vendor screening activities.

Avoid treating every domain as equally important. Add ownership, business function, region, and criticality to the inventory so a weak result for a payment or identity domain receives more attention than an unused campaign domain.

Build the weekly collection workflow

A simple workflow runs once a week, authenticates to the API, submits the approved domain list, and retrieves the available trust and authentication results. Store the response with a run identifier and UTC timestamp, then convert the display time to AEST or AEDT for local reporting.

Use retry logic for temporary failures and record incomplete runs clearly. A report should distinguish between “no issue found”, “check failed”, and “domain was not checked”. This prevents an API outage or DNS timeout from being mistaken for a clean result.

Where the service supports it, collect fields such as domain name, overall score, reputation status, DKIM result, DMARC result, policy strength, detected warnings, and scan time. Preserve raw responses separately from the executive dataset so analysts can investigate without changing the figures used in the published report.

Calculate meaningful security metrics

Create a baseline during the first few runs rather than presenting a single score as a definitive measure. Useful measures include the percentage of domains with valid DKIM, the percentage enforcing DMARC, the count of critical findings, and the number of domains whose score changed materially since the prior week.

Weight results by business importance when producing an organisational risk view. A small number of high-value domains may deserve greater influence than dozens of dormant domains. Keep the weighting method visible in the report so stakeholders can understand why the overall result moved.

Include trend arrows, short explanations, and named owners. “DMARC coverage fell from 82% to 76% after a new marketing subdomain was added” is more actionable than a red score without context. Link each exception to a ticket or remediation record where possible.

Apply Australian governance controls

Email trust data can include information about business systems, suppliers, and operational practices. Handle it consistently with internal security policies and consider obligations under the Privacy Act 1988, particularly when domain records are connected with identifiable people or customer workflows.

The Spam Act 2003 is also relevant to organisations sending commercial electronic messages in Australia. A scorecard does not prove legal compliance, but it can support stronger sender governance by showing whether authorised domains and authentication controls are being maintained.

Align the process with existing controls such as the Essential Eight where appropriate, especially identity protection, patching, and access management practices around the reporting system. For regulated sectors, map exceptions to the organisation’s risk framework rather than presenting the platform score as a substitute for formal assurance.

Deliver an executive-ready weekly report

Publish a one-page summary with the reporting period, overall risk rating, changes from the previous week, three priority findings, and remediation ownership. Add a small chart showing trust or authentication trends over time, followed by an appendix containing domain-level details for security and infrastructure teams.

Schedule delivery after the weekly data collection has completed and allow time for validation. Australian teams operating across Melbourne and Perth may need a clear agreed publication window, while national businesses should account for daylight-saving changes when comparing reports or coordinating remediation.

Use the Trusted Sender Score platform for ad hoc validation when an executive asks about a particular domain or when a newly onboarded vendor requires a rapid check. Over time, the API workflow becomes a repeatable control: it highlights emerging spoofing risk, measures authentication coverage, and gives leadership a reliable view of email security posture.