Summary
- Registrar
- get.gov
- Status
- serverTransferProhibited
- Created on
- October 2, 1997
- Expires on
- September 28, 2027
- Name servers
- a11-65.akam.net, a24-64.akam.net, a1-97.akam.net, a5-65.akam.net, a14-64.akam.net, a12-64.akam.net
- Mail servers
- dot-gov.mail.protection.outlook.com
- DMARC
- Reject
- SPF
- Soft
- DKIM
- 3 keys found
- Website
- See the website
Spoofing protection (DMARC)
E-mails spoofing this domain are rejected.
DMARC tells mail servers what to do with an e-mail that claims to come from dot.gov but fails SPF and DKIM checks.
- Policy
- Reject
- Subdomain policy
- Reject
- Messages covered
- 100%
- DKIM alignment
- Relaxed
- SPF alignment
- Relaxed
- Aggregate reports
- [email protected], [email protected]
- Failure reports
- [email protected]
Record
v=DMARC1; p=reject; sp=reject; pct=100; fo=1; rf=afrf; ri=43200; rua=mailto:[email protected],mailto:[email protected]; ruf=mailto:[email protected]
Authorized senders (SPF)
E-mails sent by any other server are accepted but flagged as suspicious.
SPF lists the servers allowed to send e-mails for dot.gov.
| Rule | Value | Result |
|---|---|---|
| a | — | Allowed |
| mx | — | Allowed |
| include | spf.protection.outlook.com | Allowed |
| include | _spf.salesforce.com | Allowed |
| include | cust-spf.exacttarget.com | Allowed |
| include | _ip4spf.dot.gov | Allowed |
| include | _spgranicus.dot.gov | Allowed |
| include | _spf.google.com | Allowed |
| ip6 | 2001:19e8:d:0:204:68:194:50 | Allowed |
| ip6 | 2001:19e8:d4:0:204:152:44:20 | Allowed |
| ip6 | 2001:19e8:d:0:204:68:194:52 | Allowed |
| ip6 | 2001:19e8:d:0:204:68:194:51 | Allowed |
| ip6 | 2001:19e8:d4:0:204:152:44:21 | Allowed |
| ip6 | 2001:19e8:d:0:204:68:194:53 | Allowed |
| all | — | Suspicious |
Top-level DNS lookups: 8 of 10 allowed
Record
v=spf1 a mx include:spf.protection.outlook.com include:_spf.salesforce.com include:cust-spf.exacttarget.com include:_ip4spf.dot.gov include:_spgranicus.dot.gov include:_spf.google.com ip6:2001:19e8:d:0:204:68:194:50 ip6:2001:19e8:d4:0:204:152:44:20 ip6:2001:19e8:d:0:204:68:194:52 ip6:2001:19e8:d:0:204:68:194:51 ip6:2001:19e8:d4:0:204:152:44:21 ip6:2001:19e8:d:0:204:68:194:53 ~all
E-mail signing (DKIM)
DKIM keys published by dot.gov under the most common selectors. Other keys may exist under selectors specific to each sending service.
| Selector | Likely service | Key | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| selector2 | Microsoft 365 | RSA 1024 bits · short | Active |
| s1 | SendGrid | RSA 2048 bits | Active |
| s2 | SendGrid | RSA 1024 bits · short | Active |
RSA keys shorter than 2048 bits, called short keys, are discouraged: they are easier to break.
MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC: the e-mail records
Four DNS records make a domain's e-mail work. MX says where e-mails sent to dot.gov arrive; SPF, DKIM and DMARC let mail servers check that an e-mail claiming to come from dot.gov was really sent by this domain, which protects it against spoofing.
MX
An MX (Mail Exchanger) record designates a server that receives e-mails sent to the domain. When someone writes to an @dot.gov address, their mail server queries the DNS for the domain's MX records, then delivers the message to the server they point to.
Example record
dot.gov MX 10 mx1.dot.gov. dot.gov MX 20 mx2.dot.gov.
What the record contains
- 10, 20
- Priority: the server with the lowest number is tried first. Servers with equal priority share the load.
- mx1.dot.gov.
- Host name of the mail server. It must point to an A or AAAA record: an IP address or an alias (CNAME) is not allowed here.
- 0 .
- An MX "0 .", called a null MX, declares that the domain accepts no e-mail: sending servers give up at once instead of retrying.
Declaring at least two servers with different priorities avoids losing e-mails during an outage: sending servers retry for several days and fall back on the backup server. Without any MX, they try to deliver directly to the IP address of the domain.
SPF
SPF (Sender Policy Framework) is a TXT record listing the servers allowed to send e-mails on behalf of the domain. The receiving server checks that the sender is on this list. The final "all" rule says what to do with other servers: reject them (-all), flag their e-mails as suspicious (~all) or make no decision (?all).
Example record
dot.gov TXT "v=spf1 mx include:_spf.google.com ip4:192.0.2.10 -all"
What the record contains
- v=spf1
- Identifies the record as an SPF policy. It must come first.
- ip4, ip6
- Allows a specific IP address or an address range, for example ip4:192.0.2.0/24.
- a, mx
- Allows the addresses of the domain itself (A record) or those of its mail servers (MX).
- include
- Allows the servers of another domain, usually a sending service: include:_spf.google.com for Google Workspace.
- -all, ~all
- Final rule, applied to every other server. Its qualifier decides what happens to them: - rejects them, ~ flags their e-mails as suspicious, ? makes no decision, + accepts them (avoid it).
A domain must publish only one SPF record, and its evaluation cannot exceed 10 DNS lookups (include, a, mx, exists, redirect). Beyond that, mail servers treat it as invalid.
DKIM
DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) signs every outgoing e-mail with a private key. The matching public key is published in a TXT record at selector._domainkey.dot.gov, so the recipient can check that the message really comes from the domain and was not altered on the way. The selector is chosen by each sending service and cannot be guessed: Dataweaz checks the most common ones (Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Mailchimp, SendGrid…), so a key published under another selector may exist without appearing here.
Example record
google._domainkey.dot.gov TXT "v=DKIM1; k=rsa; p=MIIBIjANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAAOCAQ8AMIIBCgKCAQEA…"
What the record contains
- v=DKIM1
- Protocol version. Optional but recommended, in which case it must come first.
- k
- Key algorithm: rsa, the most common, or ed25519.
- p
- Public key, base64-encoded. An empty value means the key has been revoked.
- t
- Flags: y marks a key in testing, whose failures must not be penalized; s forbids its use for subdomains.
Each sending service publishes its key under its own selector (google, selector1, k1…), which allows several keys and seamless rotation. A 2048-bit RSA key is recommended today.
DMARC
DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance) builds on SPF and DKIM. Published on _dmarc.dot.gov, it tells mail servers what to do with an e-mail that fails these checks (let it through, send it to spam or reject it) and where to send reports.
Example record
_dmarc.dot.gov TXT "v=DMARC1; p=quarantine; rua=mailto:[email protected]; adkim=r; aspf=r"
What the record contains
- v=DMARC1
- Identifies the record as a DMARC policy. It must come first.
- p
- Policy applied to e-mails that fail the checks: none (monitoring only), quarantine (spam folder) or reject.
- sp
- Subdomain policy. Without it, subdomains follow the domain's policy.
- rua
- Address that receives daily aggregate reports about e-mails sent on behalf of the domain, whether they pass the checks or not.
- ruf
- Address that receives detailed failure reports, message by message. Few providers still send them.
- pct
- Percentage of e-mails subject to the policy, for a gradual rollout. 100 by default.
- adkim, aspf
- DKIM and SPF alignment: r (relaxed, a subdomain of the same domain is enough) or s (strict, the domain must be identical).
To roll out DMARC without blocking legitimate e-mails, start with p=none and an rua address, analyze the reports to find every service sending on behalf of the domain, then move to quarantine and finally to reject.
DNS records of dot.gov
IP addresses (A and AAAA)
An A record maps the domain name to an IPv4 address: the address of the server that browsers contact to display the website. The AAAA record does the same for an IPv6 address. A domain can have several of them to spread visits across several servers.
| Type | IP address |
|---|---|
| A | 204.68.196.12 |
Name servers (NS)
NS records designate the authoritative DNS servers of the domain: they answer every question about its other records (A, MX, TXT…). They are provided by the registrar, the hosting provider or a dedicated DNS service, and several servers are declared so that the domain keeps working if one of them fails.
| Server | IP address |
|---|---|
| a11-65.akam.net | 84.53.139.65 |
| a24-64.akam.net | 2.16.130.64 |
| a1-97.akam.net | 193.108.91.97 |
| a5-65.akam.net | 95.100.168.65 |
| a14-64.akam.net | 184.26.161.64 |
| a12-64.akam.net | 184.26.160.64 |
Mail servers (MX)
MX records point to the servers that receive e-mails sent to the domain, that is to @dot.gov addresses. Each server has a priority: the one with the lowest number is tried first, the others take over if it fails. Without an MX record, the domain cannot receive e-mails.
| Priority | Server | IP address |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | dot-gov.mail.protection.outlook.com | 52.101.60.145 |
TXT records
TXT records hold free text. They are used to prove ownership of the domain to online services (Google, Microsoft, Facebook…) and to publish e-mail security rules: SPF on the domain itself, DMARC on _dmarc.dot.gov.
| Name | Content |
|---|---|
| dot.gov | _fvsc84ser6lko7ohn62zgqkvcq85gp8 |
| dot.gov | apple-domain-verification=HT8c9nRGfnIu6NCJ |
| dot.gov | DvJkvb1Hi8onaHmhg9wO0TuoOcYFUoPXwshxGuB5Vqf1uE/T+YJfJvWGLSh3gatzXD12xt3ODFXl8Xs2+jCstw== |
| dot.gov | MS=ms26367269 |
| dot.gov | 3fx51jzw0dcc5bvwmtn1lz021gz2qhxm |
| dot.gov | _b926kcembsrd2ek4cyba1ndl3hxblnl |
| dot.gov | _ve2dqaw8ledzzbage6dyzpryvms84c4 |
| dot.gov | atlassian-domain-verification=FXR5GGBCdDwdaQvAVJg4Ci4xYsdTHna2AQ8SuaGrPbt6jagocMxN0nMPx10ZluSL |
| dot.gov | _uuvrnzshx0botn6f76i2xdbcdmskkni |
| dot.gov | box-domain-verification=28e72c657009fce1cc4b41cd075ad013ffc964f459ad1ea507272403c9313f16 |
| dot.gov | _mr1ztrx2wuijccdbvlehpvj784eeqca |
| dot.gov | aD54BF4xtfbU/hK9XqwemHvFwIn923rLW9oa7aMjSaPGDlHKtKF3KnhepkTeYsLuEMdOVuO3RDo/IH6gJpM+kQ== |
| dot.gov | v=spf1 a mx include:spf.protection.outlook.com include:_spf.salesforce.com include:cust-spf.exacttarget.com include:_ip4spf.dot.gov include:_spgranicus.dot.gov include:_spf.google.com ip6:2001:19e8:d:0:204:68:194:50 ip6:2001:19e8:d4:0:204:152:44:20 ip6:2001:19e8:d:0:204:68:194:52 ip6:2001:19e8:d:0:204:68:194:51 ip6:2001:19e8:d4:0:204:152:44:21 ip6:2001:19e8:d:0:204:68:194:53 ~all |
| dot.gov | fj6d6z3qvchx0ld3t4c67zqvjf7hqn0b |
| dot.gov | paloaltonetworks-site-verification=260148d548b261d1e519e88fe9950c5798d6523cd3b8f5017afdf67f6afca87f |
| dot.gov | 6gs1vs2jzkd4ky3dcndfdmcf21ddxj0p |
| _dmarc.dot.gov | v=DMARC1; p=reject; sp=reject; pct=100; fo=1; rf=afrf; ri=43200; rua=mailto:[email protected],mailto:[email protected]; ruf=mailto:[email protected] |
| selector2._domainkey.dot.gov | v=DKIM1; k=rsa; p=MIGfMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBAQUAA4GNADCBiQKBgQDl/oGOgiu4QfW3K9ON+GAsRllOBW22/yfb8LAj3HkTSvcThyknrEjLgw4s6gi13pC0Jpj4WcxM7xCewD14JuF530nYJ+dLSBaAokLtKYqGvkxGerchEf0Pyj0Bmh3ZkERdy8XGQ+zwjmAKVT/zVeLvyNuYXGBpwZceTmobJEtOBQIDAQAB; |
| s1._domainkey.dot.gov | k=rsa; t=s; p=MIIBIjANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAAOCAQ8AMIIBCgKCAQEAoAVO6Ux4I/Ic0nBnpV7gAZ70LkHKXNTjgtq/RW4olVsnn3n6RSZqQIyze8IcsNf4T96fbo16slB1X0NtkPoNEbhdhVyrp7ZJybyHbRe2xzsmQ6Q+9GtplbM/IAibS8LxpS0fiVCylTaGaqfN7Wprf4JOJPmOEwhn7yejtrzbOqxu1rqIgifELjjDcHJ1a+ULSncNeHvQHOZrf3lezTYZCanwErxF2ulNvfg+7cUckhcvn5OOcyELgcq15QPZZlY4+60n5QvFQn3UW1oIuCGkzl3Hs0wo9yAkk2fSPi1GZpCDRlY3J9jHyVUEMwMLbN35Uaefd1SsuLsVrCAnlmim1QIDAQAB |
| s2._domainkey.dot.gov | k=rsa; t=s; p=MIGfMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBAQUAA4GNADCBiQKBgQCxeNI6N5nqfW+p6ldo5QN6YQ1Kss54nBp2AD0+7WcQ/tsw47fj5fdixT/olsN4ZA+lGx0fTqyhJ1zOyXEiiv1mD8y/b6G7Vr0YY3vj3IVitAPZANp3oaQfJj/KkCM1/PVXHVusgKKfQY5d7PEbK11pWdiUXBNyQJwK3RvlRkiDvQIDAQAB |
Related IP addresses
IPv4 addresses used by dot.gov: website, name servers, mail servers and senders authorized by SPF.
| IP address | Used for | /24 block |
|---|---|---|
| 204.68.196.12 | Website | 204.68.196.0/24 |
| 84.53.139.65 | Name server a11-65.akam.net | 84.53.139.0/24 |
| 2.16.130.64 | Name server a24-64.akam.net | 2.16.130.0/24 |
| 193.108.91.97 | Name server a1-97.akam.net | 193.108.91.0/24 |
| 95.100.168.65 | Name server a5-65.akam.net | 95.100.168.0/24 |
| 184.26.161.64 | Name server a14-64.akam.net | 184.26.161.0/24 |
| 184.26.160.64 | Name server a12-64.akam.net | 184.26.160.0/24 |
| 52.101.60.145 | Mail server dot-gov.mail.protection.outlook.com | 52.101.60.0/24 |
WHOIS of the domain dot.gov
Domain Name: dot.gov Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.nic.gov Registrar URL: https://get.gov Updated Date: 2026-08-22T13:29:49Z Creation Date: 1997-10-02T01:29:22Z Registry Expiry Date: 2027-09-28T18:56:21Z Registrar: get.gov Registrar IANA ID: 8888888 Registrar Abuse Contact Email: Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: Domain Status: serverTransferProhibited https://icann.org/epp#serverTransferProhibited Registry Registrant ID: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Registrant Name: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Registrant Organization: Department of Transportation Registrant Street: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Registrant City: Washington Registrant State/Province: DC Registrant Postal Code: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Registrant Country: US Registrant Phone: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Registrant Email: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Registry Admin ID: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Admin Name: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Admin Organization: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Admin Street: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Admin City: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Admin State/Province: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Admin Postal Code: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Admin Country: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Admin Phone: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Admin Fax: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Admin Email: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Registry Tech ID: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Tech Name: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Tech Organization: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Tech Street: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Tech City: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Tech State/Province: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Tech Postal Code: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Tech Country: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Tech Phone: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Tech Fax: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Tech Email: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Registry Security ID: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Security Name: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Security Organization: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Security Street: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Security City: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Security State/Province: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Security Postal Code: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Security Country: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Security Phone: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY Security Email: [email protected] Name Server: a1-97.akam.net Name Server: a11-65.akam.net Name Server: a12-64.akam.net Name Server: a14-64.akam.net Name Server: a24-64.akam.net Name Server: a5-65.akam.net DNSSEC: signedDelegation >>> Last update of WHOIS database: 2026-10-01T21:23:39Z <<< For more information on Whois status codes, please visit https://icann.org/epp WHOIS information is provided by the registry solely for query-based, informational purposes. Any information provided is "as is" without any guarantee of accuracy. You may not use such information to (a) allow, enable, or otherwise support the transmission of mass unsolicited, commercial advertising or solicitations; (b) enable high volume, automated, electronic processes that access the registry's systems or any ICANN-Accredited Registrar, except as reasonably necessary to register domain names or modify existing registrations; or (c) engage in or support unlawful behavior. We reserve the right to restrict or deny your access to the WHOIS database, and may modify these terms at any time. % Query time: 560 msec % WHEN: Thu Oct 01 21:23:38 UTC 2026