Stay cyber vigilant this Black Friday

Black Friday sales are the perfect breeding ground for threat actors lurking to exploit excited shoppers. They trick innocent and less tech-savvy people into buying from fake e-commerce websites or sharing login credentials, credit card details, contact details, etc.  As per a report, one in three Americans have fallen victim to online holiday scams, with…

Understanding the use cases for SPF soft fail and hard fail

Understanding the use cases for SPF soft fail and hard fail

SPF works on two core components: soft fail and hard fail. Domain owners should understand the conditions under which each of these mechanisms works perfectly. A mindless implementation of mechanisms leads to poor email deliverability and sender reputation, impacting communication and brand integrity. While the soft fail mechanism is lenient, it leaves a security gap….

How to update an SPF record for added senders?

Creating an SPF record is a one-time job, but you have to keep updating it with new senders. In an SPF record, the term ‘sender’ refers to the IP addresses, domains, or mail servers you recognize and officially allow to be used for sending emails on behalf of your business.  These senders include direct IPs…

5 key contributors to the development of the Sender Policy Framework

“None of us is as smart as all of us.” — Ken Blanchard Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is an email authentication protocol created in the late 1990s that is still widely used worldwide. Its success lies in the fact that it’s an amalgamation of the efforts and brains of so many people who kept adding…

SPF Soft fail and hard fail in email marketing

SPF Soft fail and hard fail in email marketing

As of August 13, 2024, the United States is the world’s largest sender of spam emails, with as many as 8 billion of them sent daily. China and Germany are closely following, with 7.6 billion and 7.3 billion, respectively. Email-based phishing, spoofing, and BEC attacks are taking over the world. As per the IC3 Internet…

Decoding SPF mechanisms and their role in maximizing email deliverability

In today’s email ecosystem, security and deliverability must go hand-in-hand. Sender Policy Framework is the email authentication protocol that acts as a core line of defense against unauthorized people trying to send emails from your domain. Implementing and monitoring SPF ensures your brand doesn’t get involved in phishing and spoofing.  Email deliverability is a critical…

Understanding DKIM’s cryptographic algorithms: RS256 vs. RS512 and emerging trends

When it comes to maintaining the integrity of the contents of an email and verifying that they genuinely come from a trusted sender, DKIM is the authentication protocol that most security teams trust. This email authentication standard operates on cryptographic algorithms to generate a digital signature on each email. In this way, the recipient can…

Troubleshooting the common SPF authentication issues for the best email deliverability

Troubleshooting the common SPF authentication issues for the best email deliverability

If your SPF record has any errors and you don’t fix them soon, then recipients’ mailboxes start marking your emails as spam or rejecting them outright. This way, communication takes a toll, and your brand’s reputation tarnishes over time. Poor email deliverability results in issues such as low engagement rates, wasted resources, compliance risks, and…

Resolving custom domain configuration issues for Azure Email Communication

It’s important to properly configure your domains so that email deliverability is not hampered. If your emails are marked as spam or rejected, the recipient will not receive your message in their inbox. With correctly configured SPF and DKIM records comes the trust within recipients that they have received the email from a genuine sender…

Revisiting the basics of SPF, DKIM, and DMARC in 2024

Be it corporate entities or business enterprises, emails tend to be one of the strongest modes of communication for conveying professional messages. However, the deep penetration of AI into our personal and professional lives, as well as highly dynamic cyberattacking tactics, have made email communications vulnerable to cyber threats. Over time, phishing and email spoofing…