What are DKIM and SPF used for?

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DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) and SPF (Sender Policy Framework) are two technologies used for email authentication.

SPF is a standard that allows domain owners to specify which mail servers are authorized to send emails on behalf of their domain. When an email recipient receives an email, it can check if the mail server claimed to have been used by the sender is listed in the SPF record of the domain. If the mail server is not listed, then the email is likely to be spam or fraudulent, which increases the chances of it being marked as spam. Therefore, SPF can help detect and reduce the amount of spam and fraudulent emails.

DKIM is an encryption technology that allows the sender to sign the email and encrypt the signature using a private key. The recipient can verify if the email was sent by the sender by checking the signature and ensuring that the content of the email was not altered during transmission. DKIM can help identify and reduce fraudulent emails because it can verify the sender’s identity and detect if the email was tampered with.

In summary, SPF and DKIM aim to increase the security and trustworthiness of emails and reduce the amount of spam and fraudulent emails. They are usually used together with DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance), which can integrate the results of SPF and DKIM into the email header and control and report on unverified emails based on the domain owner’s requirements.

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