What is mail spf

SPF (Sender Policy Framework) is an email authentication system designed to prevent spam and phishing emails by verifying the authenticity of the sender's domain. It's a way for domain owners to specify which mail servers are authorized to send emails on behalf of their domain.

Here's how it works:

  1. A domain owner sets up an SPF record in their DNS (Domain Name System) settings. This record specifies a list of IP addresses or mail servers that are allowed to send emails on behalf of their domain.
  2. When an email is sent from a mail server, the receiving mail server checks the SPF record for the sender's domain to see if the IP address of the sending mail server is listed in the record.
  3. If the IP address is listed, the receiving mail server assumes that the email is legitimate and allows it to be delivered to the recipient's inbox.
  4. If the IP address is not listed, the receiving mail server may flag the email as spam or reject it altogether.

SPF helps to prevent spam and phishing emails by:

  1. Preventing spoofing: SPF makes it difficult for spammers to send emails that appear to come from a legitimate domain.
  2. Reducing spam: By verifying the authenticity of the sender's domain, SPF helps to reduce the amount of spam that reaches inboxes.
  3. Improving deliverability: SPF can improve the deliverability of legitimate emails by reducing the likelihood of them being flagged as spam.

There are two types of SPF records:

  1. Hard fail: This type of record specifies that any IP address not listed in the record is not authorized to send emails on behalf of the domain.
  2. Soft fail: This type of record specifies that any IP address not listed in the record is not authorized to send emails on behalf of the domain, but the receiving mail server may still deliver the email if it's not sure whether the IP address is legitimate.

To set up an SPF record, you'll need to:

  1. Determine the IP addresses or mail servers that are authorized to send emails on behalf of your domain.
  2. Create a TXT record in your DNS settings with the following format: v=spf1 a mx ip1 ip2... -all
  3. Replace a and mx with the IP addresses or mail servers that are authorized to send emails on behalf of your domain.
  4. Replace ip1, ip2, etc. with the actual IP addresses or mail servers.
  5. Add the -all directive at the end of the record to specify that any IP address not listed in the record is not authorized to send emails on behalf of your domain.

It's recommended to use a third-party SPF service or consult with your email provider to set up an SPF record correctly.