SPF helps recipients’ mailboxes verify the authenticity of senders’ domains by referring to their predefined policies. To do this, the receiving server retrieves the SPF record linked to the sender’s domain. A standard SPF record consists of one or more mechanisms (like ip4, ip6, include, mx, etc.) that specify which IP addresses and domains are…
Are you also tempted to take care of the Sender Policy Framework (SPF) on your own? Do you also feel it’s an easy task and you don’t need to onboard an email authentication expert or outsource the work to a cybersecurity agency? Well, there are many business owners like you, but there are several reasons…
Hyperconnectivity is one of the key determinants of the digital world. This means that nothing exists in isolation, not even the cybersecurity attacks that impend over this space. This is particularly true for phishing and ransomware attacks. The synergy between the two cyberattacks is executed through the initial success of phishing, which allows ransomware to…
The Middle East is outshining other nations with its remarkable commitment to email security. Starting February 1, 2024, both Google and Yahoo mandated SPF and DKIM for bulk senders, while companies sending out over 5,000 emails per day are also required to have DMARC in place. While other nations are still making slower moves, almost…
Email authentication standards are maturing and now, the SPF protocol also has some new elements to add to its list; we are talking about the SPF flattening technique and SPF macros. These relatively newer features offer an alternative approach to address the complexities linked with email authentication and deliverability. This blog discusses SPF flattening and…
DKIM key rotation is an important security measure that ensures your DKIM records and email ecosystem aren’t exploited for long if keys are compromised. While the frequency of rotation depends on the nature of your organization, the complexity level of your email infrastructure, the availability of resources, etc., it’s suggested that you rotate them at…
Emails are important yet one of the most vulnerable strings of corporate communication. Not to forget how AI-written sophisticated emails are making it more challenging for CISOs to deploy filters to detect and burn illegitimate emails. Gone are the days when detecting poor grammar, inconsistencies, unprofessional graphics, etc., was enough to tag an email as…
Sender Policy Framework allows domain owners to specify all the IP addresses that they allow to be used for sending emails. They can instruct recipients how to deal with emails sent from unauthorized IP addresses. However, sometimes, their SPF record encounters error code 550– which can prompt due to several reasons. At times, it prompts…
In 2022, the Securing Government Services team at the Central Digital and Data Office came across an interesting problem with SPF. The team found a small bug with how UK government domains’ administrators managed the Sender Policy Framework or SPF records. SPF is an email authentication protocol that ensures only emails sent from trusted and…
Businesses outsource many tasks to third-party vendors, and if they send emails on your behalf, it’s important you make them a part of your SPF record. Otherwise, the situation will lead to email deliverability issues, which may go unnoticed for a long time, hampering communication, productivity, and operations at multiple levels. Also, ensure the team…
