E-mail Protection

Introduction

Welcome to the E-mail Protection Practice Lab. In this module you will be provided with the instructions and devices needed to develop your hands-on skills.

Learning Outcomes

In this module, you will complete the following exercises:

• Exercise 1 - Create Sender Policy Framework Records
• Exercise 2 - Working with Anti-Spam Tools

After completing this lab, you will be able to:

• Create SPF and PTR records in DNS
• Understand how junk mail is processed by e-mail client

Exam Objectives

The following exam objectives are covered in this lab:

• Understand email protection - antispam, Sender Policy Framework (SPF) records, PTR records

Lab Duration

It will take approximately 45 minutes to complete this lab.

Exercise 1 - Create Sender Policy Framework SPF Records

Domain Name System (DNS) is network service that translates a host name to its numeric Internet Protocol (IP) address and vice-versa. Although largely associated with the Internet to find hosts in the massive public network, private organizations use DNS as well so that hosts and their respective services can be located in a corporate network.

DNS relies on zones that contain resource records (RRs) which are used to ensure a successful resolution of hostnames to its IP address. For DNS servers facing the Internet, its RRs contain hostnames that are resolvable in the public network. These hostnames are typically web servers, mail relay servers, and FTP servers.

An important DNS record is the Sender Policy Framework (SPF). This record identifies specific mail servers that are allowed to send e-mail messages from that organization’s domain. The SPF is an important record against senders of junk mail who send e-mail messages with spoofed “From address” because the SPF record lists which IP address or addresses are authorized to send email from that domain.

Learning Outcomes

After completing this exercise, you will be able to:

• Create SPF and PTR records in DNS

Exercise 2 - Working with Anti-Spam Tools

Spam or unsolicited commercial e-mail is a common problem received by e-mail servers and an annoyance to individual users as it wastes system resources and is considered potential malware carriers.

Vendors of messaging platforms have a variety of tools to minimize the impact of these unwanted messages. Tools such as DNS blacklists, Grey listing, White listing and anti-spam tools are features available in most e-mail servers today. Client e-mail systems are equipped with filters, and junk mail controls to filter these types of messages as they arrive in the inbox.

Learning Outcomes

After completing this exercise, you will be able to:

• Understand how junk mail is processed by e-mail client