DNS Lookup — How to Use and Interpret Records
Use the OpenTrojan DNS Lookup tool to query A/AAAA/MX/NS/TXT/CNAME and surface missing SPF/DMARC, and read the results for email and DNS security.
Quick Answer
DNS Lookup queries A/AAAA/MX/NS/TXT/CNAME and highlights missing SPF/DMARC, helping you spot mail spoofing risk and delegation issues from public DNS records.
Definition
DNS Lookup queries public DNS records for a domain and surfaces missing mail-authentication (SPF/DMARC) configurations.
What it is
DNS Lookup (/tools/dns/) performs lookups for a domain: A/AAAA, MX, NS, TXT, CNAME, and reads TXT records for SPF and DMARC.
How to use
- Open
/tools/dns/. - Enter a domain.
- Read the returned record types and mail-auth flags.
Interpretation
- Missing SPF/DMARC (or a failing DMARC policy) — common enabler of email spoofing; treat as elevated risk for that domain’s mail.
- NS / delegation — check that the nameservers are expected and not hijacked.
- CNAME/TXT — unexpected CNAME chains or extra TXT can hide configuration issues.
Limitations
- Results are a point-in-time snapshot of public DNS; propagation and failover can change answers.
- A missing SPF/DMARC is risk, not proof of the domain being malicious — it may simply be underconfiguring.
Privacy
The queried domain is sent to the API to perform the live DNS lookup and is recorded as lookup activity; it is not placed in browser URLs or history.
Next steps
- Deeper reading of DNS records → Analyze DNS records for security.
- Check mail headers on an actual message → Email Header Analyzer guide.
References
Ask OpenTrojan's evidence-backed assistant about this topic — answers cite their sources.