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#67: Cash in the Cyber Sheets - SPF Blunders

Season #1

Welcome to Cash in the Cyber Sheets, the podcast where we cut through the noise of cybersecurity and talk about the things that actually hit your business where it hurts — your bottom line. In this episode, we dive into one of the most deceptively simple yet frequently botched pieces of email security: your SPF record.

On paper, Sender Policy Framework (SPF) sounds easy enough. You publish a DNS record that tells the world which servers are allowed to send emails on behalf of your domain. Done, right? Not so fast. In practice, most organizations end up with SPF records that resemble Frankenstein’s monster — stitched together with copy-paste errors, forgotten senders, and design flaws that guarantee your emails will be banished to spam folders.

Here’s what we cover in today’s episode:

  1. The Human Factor — typos and copy-paste disasters that silently break authentication.

  2. Forgetting Key Sending Sources — from CRMs to marketing platforms, the usual suspects people leave out.

  3. Bad SPF Design Choices — multiple SPF records, exceeding the 10-lookup limit, and the cardinal sin of using “+all.”

  4. Maintenance Failures — when vendors update their infrastructure but you don’t update your record.

  5. Misunderstanding SPF Behavior — the myths around “From” headers, forwarding, and DMARC’s magical powers.

If you’re thinking, “Uh oh, that sounds like my setup,” you’re not alone. Nine out of ten businesses have email authentication issues that cost them leads, clients, and credibility. The good news is that these problems are fixable once you know where to look.

We’ve put together some resources to help you clean this up before your next marketing campaign dies in the spam folder:

If you want to check your current email setup right now, run it through our free ClickSafe Email Checker . It will show you exactly what’s working, what’s broken, and where you’re most vulnerable.

And if you’re ready to take control of your email security and deliverability once and for all, explore our ClickSafe Email Tool . It’s built to keep your messages out of the spam folder and in front of your clients, where they belong.

Because in the world of cybersecurity, protecting your inbox isn’t just about security — it’s about making sure your business actually gets paid.