The SPF (Sender Policy Framework) record is the equivalent of a TXT record that determines which domain name has permission to send emails using the server. Curbing email spoofing is its main goal. This task is best accomplished by merging it with a DMARC record.
The DNS (Domain name service) has a record of SPF published in it and also entails a list of authorized email servers that take the responsibility of sending emails to your Domain using its name.
If the record section does not have the sender’s email and an email is sent under your domain’s name, it is considered illegitimate and has the potential to reject by the receiver of your email.
Your email deliverability will be improved by having a well-set-up SPF record. It will also help keep your domain safe from malicious emails sent using your domain. In case you use DMARC along with an SPF record, you can achieve these objectives more effectively.
DMARC Analyzer and DMARC put into work both DKIM and SPF. Together they are known to provide perfect security as well as deliverability.
History of the Sender Policy Framework (SPF)
SPF was referred to for the first time in 2000. Since then the SPF specification has evolved to include several drafts. In the meantime, Sender Policy Framework replaced SPF (Sender Permitted Form).
An attempt at combining Microsoft’s Caller ID and SPF was done by an SPF working group of IETF. Following that SPF’s “classic” version was used in the next trial. In 2006, was the first experimental RFC, and in 2014, RFC 7208 suggested standard SPF.
Authentication techniques for emails like SPF have evolved these days, leading to DMARC and DKIM. SPF determines if an email abides by DMARC standards.