Setting up Email Security for your AUTTO Domain

Secure, automated emails from all AUTTO accounts, including free trial ones, are sent from AUTTO's email server by default. Paid subscribers have the option of using two other methods for sending secure automated emails with their accounts. This article discusses these methods in more detail.

Table of Contents

• Automated Email Sending in AUTTO
• Understanding SPF/DKIM
  • To Set Up SPF/DKIM on your AUTTO Account
• Understanding SMTP
  • To Set Up SMTP on your AUTTO Account
• Integrating G Suite or Gmail SMTP with your AUTTO Account
  • To Set up G Suite SMTP Relay in the Admin Console
  • To Use the Gmail SMTP Server with your AUTTO Account

Automated Email Sending in AUTTO

There are three methods for securely sending automated emails in AUTTO:

1. AUTTO: E-mail is sent on your behalf from AUTTO's e-mail server using the e-mail address [e-mail]. This method is the default method of sending automated e-mails and is the only available method in the free trial. As an administrator, you only have to set up your administrators and managers with their own email addresses to send automated emails with your AUTTO account.
   
2. Sender Policy Framework/DomainKeys Identified Mail (SPF/DKIM): E-mails are sent using AUTTO's email server on an email domain you control that is either different from your primary email domain or a subdomain of your primary domain. To set up SPF/DKIM, you need to create or edit domain records with your Domain Name Service (DNS) provider. If you do not know your DNS provider, your hosting service should have this information. This method is available to paid subscribers only.
3. Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP): Automated e-mails are sent by AUTTO using your own e-mail server or service. An SMTP server is an application for sending, receiving, and/or relaying outgoing mail between email senders and receivers. This method is available to paid subscribers only.
   

If you are using the default email method, with AUTTO sending email on your organization's behalf, receiving email systems may mark these automated emails as risky or spam. The same may be true with SMTP, which is essentially the same as setting up your own equivalent of AUTTO's email server. The risks of that happening are lessened considerably if you use SPF/DKIM to authenticate emails.

Once you have set up one or more email addresses, you may select a default. AUTTO will use the default domain for all notifications (for example Task Email, Assign User, and Resume workflow) except billing. The notifications will use the sender email address [e-mail]. When setting your default email domain in AUTTO you should make sure that the sender address [e-mail] is an allowed sender.

Once configured, another email domain other than the default msg.autto.io can be selected in the From: field of the Email action.

Understanding SPF/DKIM

Sender Policy Framework (SPF) and DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) are both authentication mechanisms meant to ensure that your email domains are not used for sending spam, phishing, and fraud emails.

With SPF, the recipient's e-mail system checks that e-mails from a specific domain name, e.g. mycompany.com, are duly-authorised by the domain owners. On the other hand, DKIM attaches a digital signature to an outgoing e-mail.

Both these mechanisms work behind the scenes. Once set up and configured properly, they ensure that your emails are sent securely.

To Set Up SPF/DKIM on your AUTTO Account

When setting up SPF/DKIM on your AUTTO account, you will need to update the MX and TXT records in your DNS settings. Thus, to avoid any potential conflict with your main email server, it is recommended  that you use any of the following:

• A different, but related, email domain. For example, if your company uses @yourcompany.com, you may want to use @yourcompany.co.uk instead.
  
• A subdomain of your primary domain. For example, @something.yourcompany.com.

To set up DKIM/SPF on your AUTTO account:

1. On your Dashboard, click the Main Menu, then Administration.
2. Click the Email Security tab, then DKIM Settings.
3. On the next page, enter the secondary email domain to be verified. Ensure that you also own this domain. In the screenshot below, we used @autto.co.uk as an example.
   
4. Click the Add button to the right.
   
5. AUTTO displays the information that your email administrator will need to set on the email domain. Once your email administrator sets this up on your email server, click the Verify button. The information is then displayed under the Your verified domains section.

Understanding SMTP

An SMTP server sends, receives, and/or relays outgoing mail. It is usually formatted as smtp.serveraddress.com and is available via the Account Settings section in your email service or client. When you send an email, the SMTP server processes your email, decides which server to send the message to, and relays the message to that server. The recipient’s email provider, such as Gmail, then downloads the message.

To Set Up SMTP on your AUTTO Account

To set up SMTP on your AUTTO account:

1. On your Dashboard, click the Main Menu, then Administration.
2. Click the Email Security tab, then SMTP Settings.
3. On the next page, enter the domain name, login name and password, and the host and port of your SMTP server.
   
   
   
   
4. By default, the TLS Enabled box is checked. Although you may uncheck the box if you do not want to enable TLS on the SMTP server, it is recommended to leave this checked since most email servers are already TLS-compliant by default.

NOTE: Like its predecessor, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), the Transport Layer Security (TLS) cryptographic protocol secures your email communications.

5. Click the + button under the Action column to save your SMTP server settings.

Integrating G Suite or Gmail SMTP with your AUTTO Account

Creating an App Password for AUTTO

An App Password is required for authentication of AUTTO with your Google Account. To create an App Password you will need to do the following:

1. Click on your account icon in the top right and select Manage your Google Account
2. In the left hand menu bar select Security
3. Scroll down to the Signing in to Google section
4. Turn on 2-Step Verification
5. Click on App passwords (beneath 2-Step Verification)
6. In the Select device dropdown select the Other (Custom name) option. Add a name (e.g. AUTTO SMTP) and click generate to create a password.

For more details and information about App Passwords click here (this link will take you to the Google Account Help page).

To Use the Gmail SMTP Server with your AUTTO Account

NOTE: If you are sending hundreds of emails a day on a standard Gmail account you may reach their sending limits. For more information, click here

Configuration of the SMTP settings in AUTTO

1. Enter your company email domain as the domain (for an email like [e-mail] this would be yourdomain.com)
2. For login use your full Gmail address ([e-mail])
3. For the password enter the App password generated above
4. For the host use smtp.gmail.com
5. For the Port, enter 587 if you're using TLS or 465 if you're using SSL
6. Leave the TLS enabled box checked if you're using TLS

NOTE: In an email action in a workflow when you select yourdomain.com in the dropdown for the From field the sender address can be configured. This will normally need to match the email address for your account login in step 2. 

To Set up G Suite SMTP Relay in the Admin Console

If your organization uses Google's G Suite, you can integrate your G Suite SMTP into your AUTTO account using the steps detailed below.

These actions are performed on your G Suite Admin Console.

1. Switch to an Administrator account to open the Google Admin console.
2. From the Admin console's Home page, go to Apps > G Suite > Gmail > Advanced settings.
3. Under SMTP relay service, click the Configure button.
4. Set up the SMTP relay service. For more information, click here (this link will take you to the G Suite Admin Help page).
5. Under the Allowed senders section, select the users who will be allowed to send messages through G Suite's SMTP relay service.
   

   If you select the Only addresses in my domains option:

   • Email actions in workflows can be customised and be sent from any email address e.g. [e-mail] or [e-mail] etc.
   • AUTTO can use [e-mail] to send notifications if you select yourdomain.com as your default email domain
    
6. Configure your G Suite account in AUTTO using the steps outlined in To Set Up SMTP on your AUTTO Account.

Integrating Microsoft 365 and Outlook SMTP with your AUTTO Account

Configuration of the SMTP settings in AUTTO

1. For the domain enter your company's email domain or outlook. (For an email like [e-mail] this would be yourdomain.com. For an email like [e-mail] this would be outlook.com)
2. For login use your email account address ([e-mail] or [e-mail])
3. For the password enter your microsoft 365 or outlook password.
4. For the host use smtp.office365.com
5. For the Port use 587
6. Leave the TLS enabled box checked

NOTE: In an email action in a workflow when you select yourdomain.com in the dropdown for the From field the sender address can be configured. This will normally need to match the email address for your account login in step 2.