---
title: "Setting up SPF for Sophos | AutoSPF"
description: "Sophos is a British security software and hardware company that offers a suite of products."
image: "https://autospf.com/og/blog/setting-up-spf-for-sophos.png"
canonical: "https://autospf.com/blog/setting-up-spf-for-sophos/"
---

Quick Answer

Sophos is a British security software and hardware company that offers a suite of products. It specializes in communication endpoints, encryption, network security, email security, mobile security, and unified threat management. Sophos provides solutions for businesses and consumers to protect against malware, viruses, ransomware, and other cyber threats.

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![Setting up SPF for Sophos](https://media.mailhop.org/autospf/images/2024/07/spf-permerror-5427.jpg) 

[Sophos](https://www.sophos.com/en-us) is a British security software and hardware company that offers a suite of products. _It specializes in communication endpoints, encryption, network security, [email security](/spf-validation-failed-meaning-and-troubleshooting-methods/exchange-spf-check/), mobile security, and [unified threat management](https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/unified-threat-management-UTM)._ Sophos provides solutions for businesses and consumers to protect against malware, viruses, ransomware, and other [cyber threats](https://www.darkreading.com/cyberattacks-data-breaches/pro-palestinian-actor-levels-six-day-ddos-on-uae-bank).

## How Do You Configure SPF for Sophos?

![email authentication](https://media.mailhop.org/autospf/images/2024/07/spf-lookup-6728.jpg) 

[Sender Policy Framework](/blog/what-is-spf-email-a-guide-to-sender-validation-technology/) (SPF) is an [email authentication](/spf-too-many-dns-lookups/spf-lookup/) method designed to detect forged sender addresses during email delivery. It allows the domain owner to specify which mail servers are permitted to send emails on behalf of that domain.

Here are the steps to configure an SPF record for Sophos-

- Sign in to your domain’s DNS.
- Find an option that says something like ‘DNS template.’ You will most likely find it under the ‘Tools & Settings’ menu.
- Change the DNS record for SPF as mentioned below-

```
yourdomain.com TXT v=spf1 include:_spf.prod.hydra.sophos.com ~all
```

Please note that if there is no SPF record existing for your domain, you need to publish the aforementioned record. If there is already an [SPF record](/spf-record-checker/create-spf-record/), you can update it as mentioned below to include Sophos-

### Previous SPF record:

```
v=spf1 include:spf.yourdomain.com -all
```

### Modified SPF record:

```
v=spf1 include:spf.yourdomain.com include:_spf.prod.hydra.sophos.com -all
```

- Once done, save the changes.
- Wait for 72 hours to have the information propagate across the internet.

## Verification

_Use an online [SPF record checker](/spf-record-checker/) to verify that your SPF record is correctly formatted and propagated._ Tools like [MXToolbox](https://mxtoolbox.com/spf.aspx), [Kitterman](https://www.kitterman.com/spf/validate.html), or [SPF Checker](https://spf-checker.org/) can help with this. If an issue is detected, fix it as soon as possible to prevent any threat actor from [exploiting the vulnerability](https://cybersecuritynews.com/crowdstrike-threat-actor-database/).

## Testing

Send test emails to ensure that emails are delivered properly and not marked as spam. Monitor email delivery and check the [email headers](/blog/email-header-analysis-lets-know-an-emails-anatomy/) to ensure that SPF checks are passing.

## Optional configurations for Sophos email appliance

If you are using [Sophos Email Appliance](https://www.enterpriseav.com/EmailSDP-Email-Appliances.asp), ensure it is configured to enforce SPF checks on incoming emails.

- Log in to the Sophos Email Appliance management console.
- Navigate to the policy settings for [email filtering](https://cloudheroes.com/blog/email-filtering-is-still-an-important-cyber-security-defence/).
- Enable SPF checks and configure the desired action for emails that fail the SPF check (e.g., quarantine, reject, or tag).

## Follow these best practices

1. _Don’t add unnecessary and obsolete ‘include’ statements, as they make the SPF record lengthy and difficult to manage._ The simpler an SPF record is, the easier it is to troubleshoot.
2. Use SPF in conjunction with [DKIM](/10-reasons-for-regular-spf-record-checks-in-cybersecurity/dkim-record-check/) and [DMARC](/10-reasons-for-regular-spf-record-checks-in-cybersecurity/dmarc-record-check/) to ensure 360-degree protection against cyber threats emerging from emails, including [phishing](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c72v95mnpevo), [spoofing](https://www.scmagazine.com/news/fbi-warns-of-email-spoofing-by-north-korean-threat-actor-kimsuky), and [ransomware](https://thehackernews.com/2024/07/north-korean-hackers-shift-from-cyber.html).
3. Stay within the lookup limit of 10\. Organizations with complex email infrastructures and many third-party vendors tend to reach this limit quickly, invalidating their SPF records and opening gates for [threat actors](https://cybersecuritynews.com/telegram-api-credential-theft/) to hop in.
![Spf record checker 1](https://media.mailhop.org/autospf/images/2024/07/spf-record-checker-1.jpg) 

If your SPF record has already exceeded the DNS lookup limit of 10, try our [automatic SPF flattening tool](/). _It compiles all resolved IP addresses into a single list, replacing the ‘include’ mechanisms with direct IP addresses_.

## Topics

[ DKIM ](/tags/dkim/)[ email security ](/tags/email-security/)[ SPF ](/tags/spf/)[ SPF record ](/tags/spf-record/) 

![Vishal Lamba](https://media.mailhop.org/autospf/images/authors/vishal-lamba.jpg) 

[ Vishal Lamba ](/authors/vishal-lamba/) 

Content Specialist

Content Specialist at AutoSPF. Writes vendor-specific SPF configuration guides and troubleshooting walkthroughs.

[LinkedIn Profile →](https://www.linkedin.com/in/vishal-lamba/) 

## Ready to get started?

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[ Book a Demo ](/book-a-demo/) 

## Related Articles

[  Intermediate 3m  3 points to consider before setting your SPF record to -all (HardFail)  May 22, 2025 ](/blog/3-points-to-consider-before-setting-your-spf-record-hardfail/)[  Intermediate 5m  Are Your SPF and DKIM Identifiers Aligned?  Jul 18, 2024 ](/blog/are-your-spf-and-dkim-identifiers-aligned/)[  Intermediate 6m  Automated Solutions for Preventing Email Spoofing  May 7, 2026 ](/blog/automated-solutions-for-preventing-email-spoofing/)[  Intermediate 7m  AutoSPF Explains: The Definitive Guide to Adding an SPF Record to Cloudflare  Jan 7, 2026 ](/blog/autospf-definitive-guide-adding-spf-record-cloudflare/)

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