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What does a 'Received-SPF: None' result signify?

  1. The sender is unauthorized.

  2. No SPF record was found.

  3. The sender is authorized.

  4. The sender is neutral.

The correct answer is: No SPF record was found.

A 'Received-SPF: None' result indicates that no SPF (Sender Policy Framework) record was found for the domain from which the email was sent. SPF is an email authentication method designed to detect forging sender addresses during the delivery of the email. When an SPF record does not exist for the sending domain, it means that the domain owner has not published any SPF data. This is critical because it implies that receivers of the email have no way of verifying whether the sender is legitimate based on the SPF mechanism. It does not necessarily indicate whether the sender is authorized or unauthorized, as it simply reflects a lack of information about the sending domain's policy. The presence or absence of an SPF record does not provide definitive guidance on an email's legitimacy, just that there's no established policy to help validate the sender.