What is SPF record?

What is SPF record?

how can i set this ?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SPF_record

Basically it's a DNS entry in your domain name DNS zone file. There could be multiple options for configuring it, but the most basic configuration would be:

v=spf1 ip4:1.2.3.4 ~all

Code (markup):

where 1.2.3.4 would be the IP address of your email server.

 

i am using googel apps

and i am getting to many spam email like this

From: ​

Subject: Re: Hi, Cute Asian Hardcore sex​

Date: 4 March 2013 21:14:49 GMT​

To: ​

Reply-To: ​

​

I apologize for this automatic reply to your email.​

To control spam, I now allow incoming messages only from senders I have approved beforehand.​

If you would like to be added to my list of approved senders, please fill out the short request form (see link below). Once I approve you, I will receive your original message in my inbox. You do not need to resend your message. I apologize for this one-time inconvenience.​

Click the link below to fill out the request:​

https :// webmail.pas.earthlink. net/wam/addme?a=&id=11e2-8510-8be5c752-9452-00144fe24596​

-----------​

what can i do ?​

 

SPF wont protect you from spam messages I'm afraid. SPF will help with sending emails...

 

Sender Policy Framework (SPF), also known as Sender ID Framework, is an extension to the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). SPF allows software to identify and reject forged (spoofed) addresses in the SMTP MAIL FROM (Return-Path), a typical nuisance in e-mail spam. SPF is defined in Experimental RFC 4408.

 

SPF is a way for your domain to announce that 'here is my address/ip and never expect my emails to arrive from anywhere else'. Most mail servers make use of SPF record to check whether the incoming email is a spam or not. So, if you have a proper SPF record set, spammers will have a difficult time using your domain to fake their 'from' address.

 

Even I'm confused, and I know what it is!

Put simply, an SPF record is a list of places where emails from you could be delivered from. For it to be effective it has to contain ALL the places emails from you could potentially be delivered from.

That's not as easy as it sounds for most people - even those with simple set-ups. A legitimate email (i.e. one they DID send) could be sent from their hosting company's email server, their web site, their ISPs email server, their Gmail account, Yahoo account, Facebook account, or mobile - and that's just the average person. Some people have vastly more complicated emailing set-ups.

You have to spend time thinking about all the places you could send an email from, and then gather the appropriate information. Once you have it all you add this list - formatted in a particular way - to the DNS record for your domain.

Once the SPF record has been added, when an email server receives an email from your domain, it will check the SPF record for that domain. If the email has arrived from one of the locations listed in your SPF record it will mean your email is more likely to be legitimate. In terms of SPAM scoring, a matching SPF record will lower your SPAM score. If the email is delivered from a location not listed on your SPF record then it will increase the spam score.

You can also make your SPF record more "flexible". You can end the record with a tilde (~all). That says something along the lines of "all the information in my SPF files is accurate and if the email delivery location matches this list it probably is legitimate. But....if it isn't listed it doesn't necessarily mean that it isn't legitimate because my SPF record may not be complete, so don't spam score it too high!".

On the other hand you can make it absolute by finishing the record with "-all". What this says is, "this list is absolutely accurate. If an email is delivered purporting to be from my domain but the delivery location doesn't match the data in my SPF record then it is DEFINITELY not from me and is therefore spam". There are other endings you can add that work between these extremes.

Needless to say, unless you're using the "-all" mechanism, your SPF record will be a fudge at best.

Will an SPF record reduce the spam you receive - no, that's not what it's about. What it will do is afford you some protection from being blacklisted by anti-spam lists. If someone sends spam using your domain (this hijacking occurs all the time) then your SPF record will help to protect you, especially if it finishes with the "-all" mechanism. If you do get listed, you can use your SPF record as proof that you made every effort to advertise the only locations where legitimate emails from your would arrive from. If the spammer is using the same email servers that you are then that would be unfortunate, but it is so unlikely that SPF records DO provide your with some protection.