by Tim Sullivan on July 17, 2009
As mentioned in a previous post, the recent story concerning Governor Mark Sanford’s extra-marital affair highlights the need for effective email security. So, what is the key to effective email security?
The answer is layering. It has become an industry best practice to have a layered security approach when it comes to email. Typically, layers of security begin with a cloud based service (like Mailprotector) followed by an appliance (both protecting the email server).
There are other keys to layering, however, including encryption and email best practices. Recently we talked with Ira Victor of the Data Security Podcast about these issues. have a listen »
by David Setzer on July 15, 2009
On Monday we looked at SPF records and why they are important specifically to spam filters and email security in general. So today, lets take a look at how you create an SPF record for your domain.
As a quick review, an SPF record is a DNS based text string that a receiving email server can query and parse to find out what IP addresses the domain owner says should be sending email for the domain. Now, at first it seems like creating the SPF should be a pretty simple task. Simply use the syntax to say “these are my legitimate IPs”. But, it’s a little more complicated than that. SPF has a number of options which allow the domain owner to add some nuance to the result.
I’m not going to delve into all the possibilities here. But a great resource site for you is the OpenSPF project site. So, here is a breakdown of the SPF syntax where you can dissect all of the possibilities. Let’s look at two of the most common setups though:
1. First let’s look at an example of an SPF record that says “My MX records are the same and ONLY IP addresses I use to send outbound email”. This record would look like “v=spf1 mx -all”. Where “v=spf1″ gives the version of SPF used and “mx” is the command to allow all IPs that are associated to the A records in your MXs and “-all” specifically disclaims any other IPs. ***WARNING*** if you are using Mailprotector or another cloud based email security service do NOT create this SPF. Your MX records are not the same IPs that you send outbound mail through.
2. Now, here is an example of an SPF record that specifically defines the IP addresses which send mail. This record says “These are the ONLY IP addresses which send mail for my domain”: “v=spf1 ip4:192.168.0.1/16 -all”. For IP ranges, SPF uses CIDR notation. In this record “v=spf1″ again defines the version of SPF used, “ip4:192.168.0.1/16″ says “allow all ip4 addresses from 192.168.0.1 to 192.168.255.255″ and the “-all” again specifically disclaims all other addresses. So, you simply substitute your IP(s) or range(s) for the one listed in this example. If you have multiple, just add them one after another with a space between keeping the “-all” at the end. If you are a Mailprotector customer and using our outbound filtering you can get a list of the possible outbound sending ranges from the Help tab in your console.
The OpenSPF site has a great FAQ and Common Mistakes section.
Now, in conclusion I’ll just add the nice big disclaimer…use at your own risk; while not an SPF expert I do play one on TV; past SPF functionality does not guarantee future performance; the author of this article specifically disclaims any shred of truth to this material in this universe or any other. Seriously though, check out the OpenSPF site and go create your record. It’s simple and will help prevent your domain from being forged.
by Bruce LaFlam on July 10, 2009
In an article posted this week at Infoworld.com, Peter Bruzzese shares a 10 point checklist for selecting an email security solution. Also in the article, our CEO David Setzer gives some insights on email security best practices. You can read the entire article here.
Peter’s 10 email security requirements:
- Lowest total cost of ownership, upfront capital investment, ongoing administration, and user training
- Access to experienced live customer support to quickly address issues
- Preservation of network and server bandwidth
- Processing of security threats inside or outside the corporate perimeter
- Fastest time to value delivery — can it be deployed and working quickly?
- Reduced risk — ensuring your choice does not introduce a single point of failure within the organization
- Interoperability with network systems and software
- Multiple layers of protection against spam, malware, phishing, viruses, vulnerabilities, and other attacks
- Simple operation and management to reduce IT burden and allow focus on more strategic IT initiatives
- Very little or no user training requirements
Peter writes articles and posts them on his Infoworld Blog that benefit IT directors and decision makers. You can find his Blog here.
by Tim Sullivan on June 19, 2009
While there are many causes for bottlenecks that keep applications from running at top speed, Processor Magazine list some tips to maintain performance. One of the tips listed was from our CEO, David Setzer, who recommends “living in the clouds”:
“A typical cloud-based security application does not require user interaction. There is no need for user training. IT does not have to install it on workstations. There is no downtime on the user’s workstation,” he says. The result is a more productive workforce.
Other tips included: take a holistic approach, get a cheap tune-up, and outsource non-core applications. To read about the tips visit the Processor Magazine story here.
