SPF/DKIM/DMARC Setup: A Comprehensive Guide for 2024

Once you have set up the google workspace account for your domain, a few essential steps need to be followed after that. You must ensure that the emails sent from Google Workshop on your domain's behalf, are properly authenticated and trusted. This helps prevent emails from being marked as spam or ending in the recipient's junk folder. 

To achieve this, you need to do three things:

• Set up SPF (Sender Policy Framework): SPF helps validate that the emails sent from your domain are from authorized servers, reducing the chances of them being flagged as suspicious.
• Enable DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail): DKIM adds a digital signature to your outgoing emails, confirming they are legitimate and haven't been tampered during transmission.
• Implement DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance): DMARC builds upon SPF and DKIM, allowing you to specify what action should be taken if an email fails authentication. It also provides reports on email activity for your domain, giving you insights into potential issues.

By taking these steps and configuring the appropriate settings in Google Workspace, you can ensure that your emails are properly authenticated and trusted, improving deliverability and enhancing the reputation of your domain's email communication.

What is SPF?

Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is an email authentication protocol designed to detect and block email spoofing by providing a mechanism to allow receiving mail exchangers to verify that incoming mail from a domain comes from an IP Address authorized by that domain's administrators.

How Does SPF Work?

SPF works by adding a specific record to your Domain Name System (DNS) settings. This record lists the mail servers that are authorized to send emails on behalf of your domain. When an email is sent, the recipient's mail server checks the SPF record to ensure the email came from an authorized server.

How to Set Up SPF for Google Workspace?

To set up SPF for Google Workspace:

1. Sign in to the management console for your domain provider.
2. Locate the page where you update your domain's DNS records.
3. Add a TXT record with the value: v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all.
4. Save your changes.

Set up SPF for Google Workspace 

An SPF record acts like a special list of approved IP addresses that can send emails on your domain's behalf. Imagine it as a whitelist that contains the names of trusted email senders for your domain. When you send an email, the recipient's server checks this list to see if the IP address sending the email is authorized. The email might be treated as spam or suspicious if it's not on the list. 

Having an SPF record set up protects your domain from being impersonated or "spoofed." It's like having a security guard for your emails, ensuring that only legitimate sources can send messages on your behalf. This reduces the chances of your outgoing emails being marked as spam by the receiving servers, ensuring your communications reach their intended recipients smoothly and safely.

Steps that needed to be followed to authorize Google Workspace hosts to send emails on behalf of your Domain:

• Login into your Domain’s DNS board 
• Go to the page where you can update DNS settings on that Domain. 
• check if a TXT record starting with v=spf1 already exists; if so, the domain already has an SPF record and you need to update it; otherwise, you need to create an SPF record;
• to update the SPF record, insert an include mechanism right before the terminating mechanism (~all or -all) in the SPF record: include:_spf.google.com. For example, if the existing SPF record looks like: v=spf1 a ~all update it to v=spf1 an include:_spf.google.com ~all‍
• to create an SPF record, simply create a TXT record with these settings:‍
• Host/Name/Alias: @‍
• Time to Live (TTL): 3600 or default‍
• Content/Value/Answer/Destination: v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all

Once you are done, you can also save the SPF record. To be on the safer side, you can click on save at last to save it, and it will appear within 48 hours.

What is DKIM?

DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) is another email authentication method that allows the receiver to check if the email was indeed sent and authorized by the owner of that domain.

How Does DKIM Work?

DKIM works by adding a digital signature to the headers of an email message. This signature is generated using a private key that only the sender knows. The recipient then uses a public key, published in the sender's DNS records, to verify the signature and validate the email.

How to Set up DKIM for Google Workspace 

When you send an email, your outgoing server adds a special signature to it, like a seal. This signature is unique and based on the content of your email. When the email reaches the recipient's server, it uses a DKIM record, like a decryption key, to open and check that signature.

If everything matches up, it means the email hasn't been altered or tampered with during its journey. It's like a tamper-proof seal that ensures the email's contents remain intact and trustworthy. This way, the recipient can have more confidence that their email is authentic and hasn't been messed with by anyone along the way.

Steps to set up DKIM authentication in Google Workspace

Step 1- Go to Google Admin Console and login to it

Step 2- Click on Apps to go to Apps settings

Step 3- Go to Google Workshop Core Services

Step 4- Click on Gmail

Step 5- Click on Authenticate Email

• Click on the GENERATE NEW RECORD button to generate a new DKIM record
• Publish the DKIM record in the DNS; DNS propagation might take up to 1 hour before the record becomes accessible
• Once the record is accessible, Click on the START AUTHENTICATION button
• Click SAVE to complete the authentication process

What is DMARC?

Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance (DMARC) is an email authentication protocol that uses SPF and DKIM to detect email spoofing. It allows the sender to specify how to handle emails that fail SPF or DKIM checks.

How Does DMARC Work?

DMARC works by adding a DMARC policy to your DNS records. This policy tells receiving mail servers what to do if an email fails SPF or DKIM checks, such as reject the email or send a report.

How to Set up DMARC for Google Workspace: 

Next, we'll set up DMARC to keep an eye on the status of our email authentication. The main goal is to reach a level called "p=reject." Here's why it's important:

• Preventing email spoofing: When we achieve p=reject, it means we've put strong measures in place to stop others from pretending to send emails from our domain. This reduces the risk of people receiving fake or scam emails that appear to come from us.

• Improving email delivery: Reaching p=reject helps ensure that legitimate emails we send from our domain have a higher chance of landing in the recipient's inbox. It improves the reliability of our email communication, and our messages won't get lost in spam folders.

So, by setting up DMARC and reaching p=reject, we're making our domain's emails more secure and trustworthy and ensuring that the emails we send are more likely to be delivered directly to the intended recipients.

Step 1: Choose Your Domain

‍

For adding the DMARC record for a domain, first, log into your Google Domains and choose the domain you need to work from the list. 

Step 2: Edit Your Domain’s DNS Server Information

On the left side of the page, you will find a button for “DNS.” Click on this button to edit the server information of your domain. 

Step 3: Edit and Manage Your Records

Once you access your DNS setting, you can easily edit or manage your domain records. It helps you to make any addition to the custom setting to make your DMARC function properly. 

Step 4: Update the DMARC Setting

For the Host Name: “_dmarc” ** Do not add any quotation marks. 

For the Type: “TXT” **Do not add any quotation marks. 

For the Data: “v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc-reports@DOMAINNAME" **, The quotation marks will get added automatically. 

Now, click on “Save”

So, now you are done setting up DMARC! Keep an eye on those aggregate reports, and you'll be on your way to even better email authentication and protection for your domain. 

Why Do You Need SPF, DMARC, and DKIM Authenticators for Your Email?

SPF, DMARC, and DKIM authenticators are essential for protecting your email from spoofing and phishing attacks. They help verify that an email claiming to be from your domain truly is from your domain, increasing confidence in your emails and reducing the likelihood of them being marked as spam.

What are the Benefits of Having These Authenticators?

Having SPF, DMARC, and DKIM authenticators can:

1. Increase email deliverability: Emails that pass authentication checks are less likely to be marked as spam.
2. Protect your domain reputation: Prevents scammers from sending emails that appear to be from your domain.
3. Provide visibility: DMARC reports allow you to see who is sending email from your domain.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How can I troubleshoot DKIM authentication issues in Google Workspace if the email fails to authenticate?

If your emails fail to authenticate with DKIM, check that you have correctly added the DKIM record to your DNS settings. If the problem persists, it may be necessary to regenerate your DKIM keys in Google Workspace.

2. How often should I review and update my SPF, DKIM, and DMARC settings to maintain email security?

It's a good practice to review your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC settings at least twice a year. However, if you make significant changes to your email infrastructure or notice a sudden increase in email delivery issues, you should review them immediately.

3. Can I have multiple SPF records for my domain, and how does it affect email authentication?

Having multiple SPF records for a single domain can cause authentication issues and is against the SPF specification. Instead, you should have a single SPF record that includes all authorized mail servers.

4. What are the best practices for managing SPF records to avoid exceeding the DNS lookup limit?

To avoid exceeding the SPF DNS lookup limit:

1. Consolidate your SPF records into one.
2. Remove any unnecessary IP addresses or domains.
3. Use the 'include' mechanism sparingly.

5. How can I ensure that my email forwarding practices do not interfere with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC checks?

For forwarded emails, SPF checks will fail because the recipient's server is not listed in the sender's SPF record. To prevent this, you can use Sender Rewriting Scheme (SRS) which rewrites the sender address in forwarded emails. DKIM should pass as long as the email headers are not modified during forwarding. For DMARC to pass, either SPF or DKIM (or both) need to pass, so if DKIM is passing, DMARC should also pass.