NSE7 Advanced Threat Protection Practice Question
An administrator wants to secure email traffic by ensuring that incoming emails are verified against the sender's domain SPF record. Which email authentication method provides this verification?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse DKIM's signature verification with SPF's IP-based authorization, mistakenly thinking DKIM verifies the sender's domain against an SPF record.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
SPF
SPF (Sender Policy Framework) is the email authentication method that verifies incoming emails against the sender's domain SPF record. It works by checking whether the sending mail server's IP address is authorized by the domain owner's DNS TXT record. This directly matches the administrator's requirement to verify incoming emails against the sender's domain SPF record.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
DKIM
Why it's wrong here
DKIM uses digital signatures, not IP-based verification.
- ✓
SPF
Why this is correct
SPF verifies sender IP against domain's authorized servers.
- ✗
DMARC
Why it's wrong here
DMARC uses SPF or DKIM results to enforce policy.
- ✗
S/MIME
Why it's wrong here
S/MIME is for message encryption, not sender verification.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This NSE7 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Fortinet certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the NSE7 exam.