Create and iterate an SPF record for email authentication
							Status: Retired
							
						
									
						
							Published: 
							02/07/2021
						
					
						
							Security level: Official
						
					
						
							Amended / Internally developed: 
							False
						
					
						
						    Live on platform: 
							23/06/2021
						
					
						
						    Retired from platform: 
							03/10/2025
						
				
							Target Audience: Technical / General
						
					
						
							Authoring body: National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC)
						
 
				
					
					
					
				    
    
				
					
					
						Grading: 
    						no grading applied
					
					
				
								Guidance
							
						
		
						Abstract
							This document provides guidance on how to create and iterate a Sender Policy Framework record, which is a system of email authentication.
SPF works by providing domain owners a way to publish a list of the IP addresses which should be trusted for a given domain. A receiving email service can then check that a sending email service has an IP address which appears in the sender's published list.
If the IP address appears in the list of acceptable IPs, the receiving email service will forward the email to the recipient's inbox. If the receiving email service cannot confirm the IP address is valid, then it marks the email in accordance with the DMARC policy you have implemented on the domain the email is being sent from.
							
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									Security