Digital Forensic Certification Practice Exam

What does a Received-SPF: Softfail indicate about the IP address?

1. It is authorized to send emails.

2. It is not authorized to send emails.

3. It may or may not be authorized.

4. No SPF record was found.

The correct answer is: It may or may not be authorized.

A Received-SPF: Softfail indicates that the IP address may or may not be authorized to send emails. In the context of SPF (Sender Policy Framework) validation, a softfail means that the sending IP address did not match any of the defined authorized sending IP addresses in the SPF record, but the sender is not strictly prohibited from sending emails. Instead, mail servers receiving emails from this IP should treat the message with caution but not outright reject it. This status often prompts the need for further scrutiny or additional verification before concluding whether the email is legitimate or potentially spoofed. It allows for the possibility that the sender may be legitimate but was simply not included in the SPF record. Therefore, a softfail does not conclusively confirm or deny authorization, which is why the answer reflects that ambiguity.