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Posts Tagged ‘spam’

Improve Email Deliverability by Setting Up SPF Records

Thursday, May 25th, 2023

Recently, Gmail changed its email acceptance policies to reject emails from sending domains without SPF or DKIM records. If they can’t be sure a message originated from an authorized server, it may end up in the spam folder. Setting up SPF records is one way to improve email deliverability, prevent spoofing, and keep your emails out of the spam folder.

email spf records

What are SPF Records?

SPF stands for Sender Policy Framework. SPF allows administrators to specify exactly which servers are allowed to send emails on behalf of a domain by adding a record to the domain name settings (DNS). When an email is sent to another service provider, like Gmail, they compare the sender’s IP address to the SPF record. The email will only be delivered to the inbox if the record lists the correct server address. If the server is not listed, the email service provider assumes the message is forged and may send it to spam.

SPF records are primarily used to stop forged emails. Setting up SPF records for your sending IP addresses will prevent spammers from using your domain as their “From” sending address. For example, say your company domain is “trial.com,” and your SPF record correctly identifies your sending server’s IP address. Any messages you send will be verified as coming from your organization and will be delivered. When spammers try to use trial.com as their sending domain, the mail service provider will compare their IP address to your SPF record. When they do not match, the message will be flagged as suspicious.

However, SPF records do not prevent spammers from using other tactics to infiltrate your inbox. They could set up a similar domain like “trail.com” and set up SPF records for that domain to avoid scrutiny. SPF should be used in conjunction with other security measures like DKIM and DMARC to increase deliverability and protect your sending domains.

How to Set Up SPF Records

You must work with the domain owner or administrator to set up an SPF record. First, you need to collect all of the IP addresses that your organization uses to send email. Then, you will need access to your domain settings to add the SPF record. Whoever manages your domain name and web hosting can help you add the record. If you have further questions about how to improve your email deliverability, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the LuxSci support team.

Tags: dkim, DMARC, dns, domain name service, email deliverability, gmail, spam, spf, spf records, spoofing
Posted in LuxSci Library: Email Programs and Devices, LuxSci Library: The Technical Side of Email
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How Email Filtering Prevents Cyberattacks

Tuesday, September 20th, 2022

Almost every business uses email as a primary communication channel, and as a result, it is a major attack vector for cybercriminals. Every employee’s email account represents a possible risk to your business operations. One way to protect employee accounts is with email filtering tools.

email filtering

The Risks of Email Communications

Email is a necessary business communication tool. However, it also introduces significant risks. A 2019 HIMSS survey found that 70% of breaches originated with a phishing email. It’s unrealistic to stop people from using email, so the next best step is protecting accounts and reducing risk.

Social Engineering Risks

The number one threat to any cybersecurity program is human error. Phishing campaigns are so successful because they prey on human vulnerabilities. Everyone makes mistakes. Even the most cautious people can be caught up in a busy day and accidentally click on a malicious link without adequately vetting the sender.

By stopping these malicious emails from entering the employee’s inbox, there is no chance they will mistakenly click on them. Although phishing training is still essential in case emails get through the system, a good email filtering service will stop most suspicious messages.

What is Email Filtering?

Email filtering tools prevent malicious messages like spam from reaching inboxes. Filtering tools scan the incoming emails for signs of cybercrime- these could include bad links, content used by known spammers, or other indicators. Email filtering stops suspicious emails from being delivered to the intended recipient.

How Email Filtering Works to Stop Spam

There are many ways to filter emails, some of which are more restrictive than others. Every email filtering service is different, so we are speaking in generalities for informative purposes. However, the process works the same way. All incoming emails are scanned to see if they contain any information that violates the filter settings. Traditionally, the filter scans both the email header and the message contents.

The email header contains information about the sender, including their IP address, email domain, sending address, security signatures, and other technical information about how and when the email was sent. Email filters will flag messages sent from suspicious senders and known spammers. Email filters can be so restrictive as to entirely stop incoming emails from external organizations or domains.

Filtering systems also scan email message contents. Phishing schemes rely on unsuspecting users clicking on links to install malware on a user’s computer. Email filtering systems can scan and remove links to known suspicious websites. Organizations can go further and configure their filtering systems to remove all links in emails. This may be too restrictive for some, but it is an option for some filtering tools. In addition,  scanners can flag emails for spammy content. Some commonly flagged messages include overly promotional marketing emails, messages with adult themes, and those that mention illegal activities.

Once the suspicious emails are flagged, then what happens? The settings are often configurable. Some email filtering systems add a banner to the top of scanned messages that alerts the user to any risky-seeming content. However, once users are accustomed to seeing it, they may ignore or not notice the warnings.

The most common solution is to divert flagged emails to quarantine. There, users can review the messages to determine if they are spam or not. Sometimes unsuspecting messages get caught up in filters, and this gives the intended recipient a chance to retrieve wanted messages. For extremely conservative organizations, the system can automatically delete flagged messages and never deliver them to the inbox out of an abundance of caution.

Conclusion

Everyone should be concerned about the rise of cyberattacks and the potential risks to their businesses. Use an email provider that offers sophisticated email filtering services. LuxSci’s Premium Email Filtering is an available add-on to our Secure Email Hosting and Secure Connector solutions.

Tags: email filtering, email spam, phishing, social engineering, spam
Posted in Email, LuxSci Library: Email Programs and Devices
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High Volume Bulk Email: Key Ingredients for Good Deliverability

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2021

How do you ensure your bulk emails have good deliverability?

Deliverability is key to anyone sending bulk emails like newsletters, announcements, or triggered notifications. As a provider of secure bulk email services, we constantly advise customers on how they can avoid having legitimate messages marked as spam and ensure that they are not blacklisted. In this article, we consolidate our advice for everyone’s benefit. Some tactics for good bulk email deliverability include: ensuring you have a good mailing list, maintaining your mailing list, email message content, and reputation management techniques like SPF, DKIM, and IP anonymization.

bulk email deliverability

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Tags: black list, bulk email, deliverability, dkim, feedback, high volume email, hipaa bulk email, opt in, opt out, spam, spf
Posted in Business Solutions, Email Marketing, LuxSci Library: The Technical Side of Email
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8 Factors That Influence IP Reputation and Email Deliverability

Tuesday, May 25th, 2021

Getting your email marketing messages into your recipient’s inboxes is key to a successful mailing campaign. This is “deliverability.” One of the central factors governing the deliverability of your messages is the reputation of the Internet Protocol (IP) Address of your sending email server — its “IP reputation.”

This article explains some of the most common factors that affect your server’s IP reputation and email deliverability. Having a good IP reputation will help ensure your marketing messages are reaching your recipients.

Before diving in, check to see if you are on any common blacklists using mx toolbox.

ip reputation and email deliverability

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Tags: deliverability, email delivery, email marketing, ip, ip reputation, outbound email, reputation, spam
Posted in Email Marketing
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How do I fix the reputation of my IP address?

Tuesday, May 11th, 2021

It happens — you’re sending email messages without issue, and then suddenly emails are not being delivered, or they’re being flagged as spam. A little digging reveals that the problem is that your “IP reputation” is poor, and you need to fix it somehow.

improve reputation ip address

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Tags: bad neighborhood, email delivery, email server, freshaddress, ip reputation, reputation, smtp, spam
Posted in Email Marketing
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