How to Set Up SPF on a Windows 2000 Server

Phishing often directs users to fake websites.

The Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is an extension of the SMTP standard that protects email sender addresses from being forged by spammers and phishers. SPF protects the envelope sender address, which is used for delivering email messages. SPF lets you specify mail sending policies for your domain. There are two sides to how this works. First, you publish your policies in an SPF record. When another mail server receives an email message claiming to come from your domain, they can check whether the message complies with your policies and, if not, take appropriate action.

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Instructions

- 1
  
  Use a library to create your own policies, choose a mail server that has native SPF support or download an extension that provides SPF support. For example, Microsoft Exchange 2000 server did not have native support for SPF. But several third-party products are available, including GFI MailEssentials (see Resources).
- 2
  
  Publish the SPF record for your domain. For example, the record could be published with the following line in a domain zone file:
  
  TXT "v=spf1 +mx a:colo.example.com/28 -all"
  
  The "v" specifies the record version. The text after the version is three directives. For more information, see the SPF specification.
- 3
  
  Configure SPF settings for receiving email messages. Typically, there will be a properties option for SPF in a control panel. Select how SPF should detect e-mails with forged senders. For example, you might see settings such as "Never," "Low," "Medium" and "High."
- 4
  
  Set up any exceptions. For example, there might be settings that let you configure IP addresses and recipients to be excluded from SPF checks.
- 5
  
  Configure any actions to perform when spam e-mails are detected. For example, you might be able to forward spam emails to users' junk mail folders.
- 6
  
  Configure any capabilities for logging SPF settings.