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Changes to SPF and how it affects you

Last Updated: Tuesday 4 June 2024

Have you gotten an error message about your Sender Policy Framework (SPF) and are trying to figure out what that means? You’ve come to the right place!   

In this article, we’ll explain why this is, and for those unfamiliar, we’ll break down some of the lingo involved with a glossary at the end.  

What’s going on 

If you received the error message ‘Recipient address rejected: Message rejected due to: SPF fail - not authorized.’, the domain of your email address doesn't have the correct SPF records in its DNS that would allow Aussie Broadband’s mail servers to send emails from that domain*. 

*For more details on any of these terms, check our glossary at the end of this guide.

How can I fix this? 

  • If you own the domain you’re trying to send from:  

    You can add ‘include:spf1.aussiebroadband.com.au’ to your current SPF record.  

    If you haven't set an SPF yet, check https://www.mimecast.com/content/how-to-create-an-spf-txt-record/ for information on how to create an SPF record.  

  • If you don’t own the domain you’re trying to send from: 

    You can ask the domain owner to add ‘include:spf1.aussiebroadband.com.au’ to their SPF record. 

  • If you are trying to send emails from mainstream domains e.g. Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and so on:  

    Emails from these domains can’t send emails using Aussie’s email servers moving forward. 

What changed and why?

We take spam prevention very seriously. 

Recently, we’ve noticed a significant amount of spam originating from senders using our mail servers. 

To prevent further spam, we now require our email servers to be included in the SPF records of the sending domain. This will prevent bad actors from impersonating domains like ‘gmail.com’ and ‘yahoo.com’, then using our mail servers to send spam. 
While this change may prevent some customers from using Aussie’s mail servers with third-party domains, we think this is a best-of-both-worlds approach. This allows customers who own a domain, to keep using our servers as a Smart Host if they wish, while allowing us to continue to protect Aussie’s mail servers. 

If you have any questions feel free to reach out to the friendly team through the LiveChat on our website, by calling 1300 880 905, or emailing [email protected]. 

Glossary 

 

  • Domain: This is the part of the email that comes after the ‘@’ symbol e.g. the ‘aussiebroadband.com.au’ in ‘[email protected]’. 

  • Domain Name System (DNS): DNS is what will connect your domain to an actual Internet Protocol (IP) address. Think of it like a phone book, it is what will direct your email to the right place when you send it. 

  • Sender Policy Framework (SPF): This is a security measure used by mail servers. The organisation that owns the sender’s domain has a record of approved mail servers that are allowed to send emails using that domain. They keep this within their DNS.  

    Once an email has been sent, the receiving mail server will then check the sender’s DNS, to make sure the sending mail server was approved by the domain. If it was not approved, the email will be marked as spam.  

  • Smart Host: This is a middle-agent email server that’s used to manage sending bulk amounts of email, as well as monitor spam by passing outbound mail through a central Smart Host server. Customers who have their own domains may use a Smart Host. 

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