A good option could be, implementing the required policy in two phases-. SPF is added as a TXT record that is used by DNS to identify which mail servers can send mail on behalf of your custom domain. If you have a hybrid deployment (that is, you have some mailboxes on-premises and some hosted in Microsoft 365), or if you're an Exchange Online Protection (EOP) standalone customer (that is, your organization uses EOP to protect your on-premises mailboxes), you should add the outbound IP address for each of your on-premises edge mail servers to the SPF TXT record in DNS. If you have a hybrid configuration (some mailboxes in the cloud, and . Edit Default > connection filtering > IP Allow list. If you have a hybrid environment with Office 365 and Exchange on-premises. However, there are some cases where you may need to update your SPF TXT record in DNS. Secondly, if your user has the sender's address added to their safe senders list, or sender address is in contacts + contacts are trusted, the message would skip spam filtering and be delivered to inbox. This improved reputation improves the deliverability of your legitimate mail. In scenario 1, in which the sender uses the identity of a well-known organization, we can never be sure definitively that the E-mail message is indeed a spoofed E-mail. For questions and answers about anti-spam protection, see Anti-spam protection FAQ. We recommend that you use always this qualifier. Gather the information you need to create Office 365 DNS records, Troubleshooting: Best practices for SPF in Office 365, How SPF works to prevent spoofing and phishing in Office 365, Common. However, over time, senders adjusted to the requirements. Its a good idea to configure DKIM after you have configured SPF. The reason for the outcome of SPF = Fail is related to a missing configuration on the sending mail infrastructure., The E-mail address of the sender, uses the domain name of, The result from the SPF sender verification test is , The popular organization users who are being attacked, The various types of Spoofing or Phishing attacks, The E-mail address of the sender includes our domain name (in our specific scenario; the domain name is, The result of the SPF sender verification check is fail (SPF = Fail). SPF discourages cybercriminals from spoofing your domain, spam filters will be less likely to blacklist it. Q9: So how can I activate the option to capture events of an E-mail message that have the value of SPF = Fail? Ensure that you're familiar with the SPF syntax in the following table. Sender Policy Framework (SPF) allows email administrators to reduce sender-address forgery (spoofing) by specifying which are allowed to send email for a domain. The meaning is a hostile element that executes spoofing or Phishing attacks and uses a sender E-mail address that includes our domain name. Go to your messaging server(s) and find out the External IP addresses (needed from all on-premises messaging servers). Add a new Record Select Type: TXT Name/Host: @ Content/Value: v=spf1 include:spf.protection.outlook.com -all (or copy paste it from Microsoft 365 ( step 4 )) Click SaveContinue at Step 8, If you already have an SPF record, then you will need to edit it. For more information, see Configure anti-spam policies in EOP. Not every email that matches the following settings will be marked as spam. You will first need to identify these systems because if you dont include them in the SPF record, mail sent from those systems will be listed as spam. Gather this information: The SPF TXT record for your custom domain, if one exists. For example in Exchange-based environment, we can add an Exchange rule that will identify SPF failed events, and react to this type of event with a particular action such as alert a specially designated recipient or block the E-mail message. We are going to start with looking up the DNS records that Microsoft 365 is expecting and then add the correct SPF record to our DNS hosting provider: First, we are going to check the expected SPF record in the Microsoft 365 Admin center. Your email address will not be published. In case you wonder why I use the term high chance instead of definite chance is because, in reality, there is never 100% certainty scenario. Below is an example of adding the office 365 SPF along with onprem in your public DNS server. In this phase, we will need to decide what is the concrete action that will apply for a specific E-mail message that will identify a Spoof mail (SPF = Fail). Test mode is not available for the following ASF settings: Microsoft 365 organizations with Exchange Online mailboxes. The Microsoft 365 Admin Center only verifies if include:spf.protection.outlook.com is included in the SPF record. Given that the SPF record is configured correctly, and given that the SPF record includes information about all of our organizations mail server entities, there is no reason for a scenario in which a sender E-mail address which includes our domain name will mark by the SPF sender verification test as Fail. The E-mail is a legitimate E-mail message. In this category, we can put every event in which a legitimate E-mail message includes the value of SPF = Fail. An SPF record is used to identify which mail servers (or systems) are allowed to send mail on your behalf. When it finds an SPF record, it scans the list of authorized addresses for the record. Sender Policy Framework or SPF decides if a sender is authorized to send emails for any domain. Figure out what enforcement rule you want to use for your SPF TXT record. It is published as a Domain Name System (DNS) record for that domain in the form of a specially formatted TXT record. Setting up SPF in Office 365 means you need to create an SPF record that specifies all your legitimate outgoing email hosts, and publish it in the DNS. Scenario 1. In Office 365 based environment (Exchange Online and EOP) beside the option of using Exchange rule, we can use an additional option the spam filter policy. Mark the message with 'hard fail' in the message envelope and then follow the receiving server's configured spam policy for this type of message. ASF specifically targets these properties because they're commonly found in spam. For example, Exchange Online Protection plus another email system. EOP includes a default spam filter policy, which includes various options that enable us to harden the existing mail security policy. Recipient mail systems refer to the SPF TXT record to determine whether a message from your custom domain comes from an authorized messaging server. A scenario in which hostile element spoofs the identity of a legitimate recipient, and tries to attack our organization users. Most end users don't see this mark. Your support helps running this website and I genuinely appreciate it. For example, let's say that your custom domain contoso.com uses Office 365. For example, vs. the Exchange Online spam filter policy that marks every incoming E-mail message that has the value of SPF = Fail as spam mail without distinction, when using the option of Exchange rule, we can define a more refined version of this scenario, a condition in which only if the sender uses our domain name + the result from the SPF verification test is Fail, only, then the E-mail message will be identified as Spoof mail. Other options are: I will give you a couple of examples of SPF records, so you have an idea of how they look when you combine different applications. SPF is designed to help prevent spoofing, but there are spoofing techniques that SPF can't protect against. SPF record types were deprecated by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) in 2014. Summary: This article describes how Microsoft 365 uses the Sender Policy Framework (SPF) TXT record in DNS to ensure that destination email systems trust messages sent from your custom domain. For each ASF setting, the following options are available in anti-spam policies: On: ASF adds the corresponding X-header field to the message, and either marks the message as Spam (SCL 5 or 6 for Increase spam score settings) or High confidence spam (SCL 9 for Mark as spam settings). One drawback of SPF is that it doesn't work when an email has been forwarded. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); LazyAdmin.nl is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. When this mechanism is evaluated, any IP address will cause SPF to return a fail result. How to enforce SPF fail policy in Office 365 (Exchange Online) based environment, The main two purposes of using SPF mechanism, Scenario 1: Improve our E-mail reputation (domain name), Scenario 2: Incoming mail | Protect our users from Spoof mail attack, The popular misconception relating to SPF standard. What are the possible options for the SPF test results? Based on your mentioned description about "SPF authentication fails for our outbound emails sent by Exchange Online despite having this DNS record : v=spf1 include:spf.protection.outlook.com -all", once could you please provide us your detailed error message screenshot, your SPF record and domain via private message? With a soft fail, this will get tagged as spam or suspicious. You can't report messages that are filtered by ASF as false positives. If you have a custom domain or are using on-premises Exchange servers along with Microsoft 365, you need to manually set up DMARC for your outbound mail. Misconception 1: Using SPF will protect our organization from every scenario in which hostile element abuses our organizational identity. Solved Microsoft Office 365 Email Anti-Spam. In case we decide to activate this option, the result is that each of the incoming E-mails accepted by our Office 365 mail server (EOP), and that include SPF sender verification results of SPF = Fail, will automatically be marked as spam mail. How Does An SPF Record Prevent Spoofing In Office 365? But it doesnt verify or list the complete record. Q2: Why does the hostile element use our organizational identity? SPF is added as a TXT record that is used by DNS to identify which mail servers can send mail on behalf of your custom domain. 0 Likes Reply The condition part will activate the Exchange rule when the combination of the following two events will occur: In phase 1 (the learning mode), we will execute the following sequence of actions: This phase is implemented after we are familiar with the different scenarios of Spoof mail attacks. Customers on US DC (US1, US2, US3, US4 . Include the following domain name: spf.protection.outlook.com. It doesn't have the support of Microsoft Outlook and Office 365, though. The element that should read this information (the SPF sender verification test result),and do something about it, is the mail server or the mail security gateway that represents the organization mail infrastructure. In simple words, the destination recipient is not aware of a scenario in which the SPF result is Fail, and they are not aware of the fact that the E-mail message could be a spoofed E-mail. Join the movement and receive our weekly Tech related newsletter. Q5: Where is the information about the result from the SPF sender verification test stored? SPF (Sender Policy Framework) is an email authorization protocol that checks the sender's IP address against a list of IPs published on the domain used as the Return-Path header of the email sent. Even in a scenario in which the mail infrastructure of the other side support SPF, in case that the SPF verification test marked as Fail, we cannot be sure that the spoofed E-mail will be blocked. You can only create one SPF TXT record for your custom domain. Anti-spam message headers includes the syntax and header fields used by Microsoft 365 for SPF checks. i check headers and see that spf failed. We don't recommend that you use this qualifier in your live deployment. The first one reads the "Received-SPF" line in the header information and if it says "SPF=Fail" it sends the message to quarantine. In the next article, Implementing SPF Fail policy using Exchange Online rule (dealing with Spoof E-mail attack) | Phase 1 learning mode | Part 2#3, we will review the step-by-step instruction needed to create an Exchange Online rule that will help us to monitor such events. For example, 131.107.2.200. If the sender isn't permitted to do so, that is, if the email fails the SPF check on the receiving server, the spam policy configured on that server determines what to do with the message. This tag allows plug-ins or applications to run in an HTML window. It can take a couple of minutes up to 24 hours before the change is applied. Best practices and the latest news on Microsoft FastTrack, The employee experience platform to help people thrive at work, Expand your Azure partner-to-partner network, Bringing IT Pros together through In-Person & Virtual events. This article describes how you form your SPF TXT record and provides best practices for working with the services in Microsoft 365. This is the default value, and we recommend that you don't change it. If you are a small business, or are unfamiliar with IP addresses or DNS configuration, call your Internet domain registrar (ex. Typically, email servers are configured to deliver these messages anyway. If you haven't already done so, form your SPF TXT record by using the syntax from the table. You add an SPF TXT record that lists the Office 365 messaging servers as legitimate mail servers for your domain. We cannot be sure if the mail infrastructure of the other side support SPF, and if he implements an SPF sender verification test. This is no longer required. To work around this problem, use SPF with other email authentication methods such as DKIM and DMARC. The Exchange tool/option that we use for the purpose of gathering information about a particular mail flow event is described as an incident report. When you want to use your own domain name in Office 365 you will need to create an SPF record. To be able to avoid from a false-positive event, meaning an event in which a legitimate E-mail message mistakenly identified as Spoof mail, I prefer more refinement actions such as send the E-mail to approval, send the E-mail to quarantine and so on. In reality, most of the organization will not implement such a strict security policy because they would prefer to avoid a false-positive scenario in which a legitimate mail mistakenly identified as Spoof mail. In case we want to get more information about the event or in case we need to deliver the E-mail message to the destination recipient, we will have the option. Destination email systems verify that messages originate from authorized outbound email servers. We can say that the SPF mechanism is neutral to the results his main responsibility is to execute the SPF sender verification test and to add the results to the E-mail message header. Use trusted ARC Senders for legitimate mailflows. This type of scenario, there is a high chance that we are experiencing a Spoof mail attack! The reason that I prefer the option of Exchange rule is, that the Exchange rule is a very powerful tool that can be used to define a Tailor-made SPF policy that will suit the specific structure and the needs of the organization. The number of messages that were misidentified as spoofed became negligible for most email paths. We reviewed the need for completing the missing part of our SPF implementation, in which we need to capture an event of SPF sender verification test in which the result is fail and, especially, in a scenario in which the sender E-mail address includes our domain name (most likely certainly a sign that this is a Spoof mail attack). Login at admin.microsoft.com, Expand Settings and select Domains Select your custom Domain (not the
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spf record: hard fail office 365
