Gain protection against advanced email attacks like BEC, ATO, social engineering, and more
Turn hours-a-day to minutes-a-month combatting phishing with customizable security automation
Triple your org's email security awareness with real-world phishing simulation testing and training
Get Adaptive AI email security against advanced attacks missed by other security controls
Eliminate the risk of ATO with advanced prevention, detection, and response
Protect your organization from image-based attacks like malicious QR codes
Put SecOps workloads on auto-pilot with automated email remediation and more
Send your employees customized simulations built from real-world threats
Build a security-centric culture with automated personalized awareness campaigns
Leverage insights from 20,000+ security analysts in our community for email remediation
Protect your collaboration tools including Microsoft Teams® from advanced threats
Learn how we level up our AI with advanced ML models and Human Insights
See how we uniquely enhance our adaptive AI with real-time Human Insights
Discover how we use Gen-AI, large language models, and techniques for email security
Maximize your existing security tools with our seamlessly integrated platform
Stop advanced attacks like BEC, VEC, and VIP impersonation
Continuously protect against malicious links and attachments
Block attackers from stealing your sensitive business data
Prevent, detect, and respond to ATO attacks in real time
Decipher image-based attacks from weaponized QR codes
Safeguard your organization against GPT-crafted attacks
Test your employees with real-world email attacks
Build a security-first organization with integrated SAT campaigns
SPF provides basic protections against phishing threats when someone attempts to trick users into revealing sensitive information by sending fake messages that appear to be from a legitimate source.
SPF (Sender Policy Framework) is an email authentication system that works by verifying the IP address of any message sent from a specific domain. SPF allows ISPs and email services to make sure that the messages they receive are actually coming from a legitimate source. SPF assists in preventing spoofing, which occurs when someone masquerades as another person or organization in order to send malicious emails. SPF provides basic protections against phishing threats when someone attempts to trick users into revealing sensitive information by sending fake messages that appear to be from a legitimate source.
SPF works by comparing the IP address of the message with a list of approved IP addresses associated with the domain from which it was sent. If the message is coming from an IP address that is not on that list, SPF will reject it and mark it as spam or suspicious. SPF also helps to protect domains from being used to send malicious emails by stopping email spoofing. SPF uses a DNS record to authorize which IP addresses are allowed to send emails from that domain, making it harder for attackers to spoof the sender address.
Although SPF is effective at blocking malicious emails from reaching users, SPF does not provide 100% protection against all types of email attacks. SPF is limited by the fact that it only authorizes IP addresses and does not 'authenticate' that the message was sent from a legitimate source. SPF also has difficulty recognizing dynamic IP addresses, which can lead to SPF lookups failing and resulting in legitimate emails being blocked. SPF is also not able to detect forged headers, which are used by attackers to disguise the true source of malicious emails.
For these reasons, SPF should be used in conjunction with other security measures such as DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) and DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance). SPF while an important component of a comprehensive email security strategy should be combined with more sophisticated advanced phishing protections and user education.
Combining SPF, DKIM, and DMARC with a comprehensive email security solution like IRONSCALES™ is the best way to ensure the highest level of protection against phishing attacks. IRONSCALES is a self-learning, AI-driven email security platform that continuously detects and remediates advanced threats like spoofing, impersonation Business Email Compromise (BEC), credential harvesting, Account Takeover (ATO), and more, in milliseconds. Together SPF and IRONSCALES ensure complete protection for your organization against advanced phishing attacks.
Check out the complete IRONSCALES email security solution here.
Immediately jump into an interactive journey through our AI email security platform.
This comprehensive Osterman Research study explores the evolving landscape of AI-driven threats and innovative solutions implemented to stay ahead.
This guide gives email security experts an exclusive access to Gartner® research to ensure their existing solution remains appropriate for the evolving landscape.
Data shows organizations deploy defense-in-depth approaches ineffective at addressing BEC attacks. Discover truly effective strategies in this report.
Request a demo to see what IRONSCALES AI-powered email security can do for you.