Email, DNS, SPF, DKIM and DMARC Audit

Audit for email infrastructure, DNS configuration, SPF, DKIM, DMARC records, mail server exposure, reputation and deliverability risks.

Email authentication failures and DNS misconfigurations are among the most common — and most overlooked — infrastructure problems. An email and DNS audit reviews your mail server configuration, authentication records and DNS hygiene to identify deliverability risks, spoofing exposure and operational gaps.

What We Check

Our audit covers email infrastructure and DNS configuration in detail:

Email Authentication

  • SPF records — syntax validation, include chain depth, lookup limits, alignment with actual sending sources
  • DKIM — key presence, key strength, selector configuration, alignment, rotation status
  • DMARC — policy level (none/quarantine/reject), reporting configuration, subdomain policy, aggregate and forensic report setup
  • ARC headers — forwarding chain authentication for mailing lists and redirects

DNS Configuration

  • Zone structure — record hygiene, unnecessary entries, wildcard usage, TTL configuration
  • MX records — priority, redundancy, consistency with actual mail server infrastructure
  • Reverse DNS (PTR) — correct mapping for all sending IPs
  • DNSSEC — signing status, key rotation, DS record delegation
  • Nameserver security — authoritative server configuration, zone transfer restrictions

Mail Server

  • Server configuration — Postfix, Exim or equivalent: relay restrictions, authentication requirements, TLS enforcement
  • Open relay testing — verification that the server does not relay mail for unauthenticated senders
  • Rate limiting — per-account and per-IP sending limits
  • Queue management — queue size monitoring, bounce handling, deferred mail

Reputation and Deliverability

  • IP reputation — sending IP status across major blacklists (Spamhaus, Barracuda, SORBS and others)
  • Domain reputation — domain-level reputation checks with major email providers
  • Deliverability indicators — authentication pass rates, bounce rates, complaint feedback loops
  • Blacklist monitoring — current listing status and delisting guidance if needed

Why Email Authentication Matters

Without properly configured SPF, DKIM and DMARC:

  • Anyone can send email that appears to come from your domain
  • Your legitimate email is more likely to land in spam
  • You have no visibility into who is using your domain to send mail
  • Your domain reputation degrades over time, affecting all email delivery
  • Phishing attacks using your domain become trivial to execute

These are not theoretical risks — they affect deliverability and brand trust daily.

What You Receive

  • Email authentication report — complete analysis of SPF, DKIM and DMARC for all audited domains
  • DNS configuration review — findings and recommendations for zone hygiene and security
  • Reputation assessment — blacklist status, IP and domain reputation summary
  • Remediation steps — exact DNS records to add, modify or remove, with explanation
  • Monitoring recommendations — tools and practices for ongoing email authentication oversight

Fix your email authentication before deliverability suffers. Contact us to start your audit, or see our pricing.

Need a different audit scope?

We tailor every engagement to your infrastructure. Tell us what you need.

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