What is an SPF record for my mail?

An SPF record is a protocol that is used to recognize the domain in a mail message. This ensures that it is known from which domain mail is sent. SPF stands for Sender Policy Framework and is easy to set up in the control panel of MijnHostingPartner.nl. You do this under the DNS records of the domain. When a domain is created at MijnHostingPartner.nl then immediately an SPF record is created under your hosting of the website. This SPF record is constructed in the following way:

v=spf1 a include:spf.myhostingpartner.nl ~all

The purpose of the DNS records that can be added is to prevent spoofing. In other words, sending emails from your email address without actually having the data of the mail account. This can be done in two places, in the header from what the end user eventually sees. So the email address that is in your mailbox. And the underlying sending address. This is the email address that the mail is sent from and is not directly visible to the end user.

What do the separate parts of the SPF record mean?

The important parts of an SPF record are the IP address and what comes after it : ~allThe
IP address is of our mail server, when you go to this address in the browser you will also see the webmail hosting appear. The ~all stands for the match that is made, all does for all domains allowing to send messages.

Variations of this are â€"all and +all, -all gives no advantage for security but only affects the delivery of email messages. If you use â€"all then messages will be blocked that are indirectly sent through your email address or to your email address. V=spf1 refers to the version of the SPF record, 1 being the latest available version. ~all is the format most recommended to use.

Does an SPF record protect me from impersonation?

No it does not. It is just a component that works together to prevent this. In combination with a DKIM record and a DMARC you do as much as possible to protect your email account from spoofing.