Get To Know The Importance Of SPF Record’s All Mechanisms
SPF (Sender Policy Framework) has been here for some years now, and it has been quite useful in keeping threat actors from spoofing thousands of users’ domains. It has undergone several changes since it was first launched in 2000. The SPF record is the central part of implementing SPF, wherein the policy is defined.
Improvement in email deliverability is another tremendous advantage of using SPF records. Here’s everything you need to know about SPF mechanisms.
The Commonly Used SPF Record Format
An SPF record typically appears in the TXT format. When you create SPF records, it must always begin with the ‘v=’ element component. It is meant to indicate the type of SPF version used.
The most followed version is ‘spf1’ and is understood by all email exchange platforms. In the SPF record syntax, the version is specified in the form ‘v=spf1.’ It will be followed by other components, known as the mechanisms. Thus, an SPF record example would look like this:
v=spf1 ‘a MX include : spf.domainname.com ~all.’
SPF Mechanisms And Its Types
SPF mechanisms decide the characteristics of an SPF record, including which IP addresses are considered authorized. It is of different types. The below listed are a few of the most common ones:
- ‘MX’ Mechanism: This mechanism means that when the sender’s IP address matches the ‘MX’ record of the ‘From’ domain, the SPF check passes. Based on this SPF record, all servers linked to such domains are automatically granted permission.
- ‘a’ Mechanism: In this case, the sender’s IP address should match the ‘A’ record of the ‘From’ domain to pass the SPF check. It will decline any request coming from another server.
- ‘include’ Mechanism: This mechanism allows IP addresses that match the ones listed in the SPF record. Thus, the emails are automatically accepted or declined accordingly.
- ‘all’ Mechanism: The ‘all mechanism comes at the end of the SPF record syntax. It specifies the action to take on the messages that did not match any previous mechanisms mentioned. The action will be based on the qualifier attached to it, such as ‘+’ (Pass), ‘-‘ (Fail), ‘~’ (Soft fail), or ‘?’ (Neutral).
Creating an SPF record is only complete when one checks it for accuracy using an SPF checker. There are many SPF record tester solutions available such as the Kitterman SPF record testing tools, Mimecast SPF checker, and DuoCircle’s DMARCreport.com, that can help you generate and validate SPF records for your domain.
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