Is anti-spoofing one of the first policies to be considered on any email message from an external source?

Anti-spoofing is indeed one of the first policies to be evaluated for any email message originating from an external source. Its primary function is to determine whether the sender's address has been forged, which is a common tactic used in phishing attacks and other forms of email fraud. By implementing anti-spoofing measures early in the email processing pipeline, organizations can vastly reduce the risk of accepting malicious emails that appear to be from legitimate sources.

This policy typically examines various factors, such as the sender's domain alignment with established authentication standards (like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC), to validate the integrity of the email. By prioritizing this check, organizations can take preemptive actions, such as quarantining or rejecting suspicious emails before they reach end-users.

In contrast, while the configuration might affect specific rules and how they are applied, the fundamental principle remains that anti-spoofing should be at the forefront of email security measures to protect against impersonation attacks. Therefore, the assertion that anti-spoofing is a primary consideration aligns perfectly with best practices in email security protocols.