Glossary
SPF
The DNS record naming who is allowed to send email as your domain.
What it means
SPF is a line in your DNS that lists the services permitted to send mail using your domain. Receiving servers read it and treat mail from anywhere else with suspicion.
Without it, two things happen. Your own mail lands in spam, which means the password reset your customer is waiting for never arrives and they leave. And anyone can send mail that appears to come from you, which is the cheapest phishing attack available.
A check reads your DNS, so this one is observable from outside and shows up as a finding with the record it found or did not find. Adding it is a DNS edit, usually one line supplied by whichever service sends your mail. Do it before you send anything to a customer.
Findings that use this term
Incidents where it mattered
No incident in the library maps to this one yet.
ShipReady is not a penetration test or a security certification. No automated check can prove an application is secure.
Last updated September 20, 2026