Allowed patterns
When you set up allowed patterns, Cloudflare Area 1 email security exempts messages that match certain patterns from normal detection scanning.
Add an allowed pattern
To create a new allowed pattern:
Log in to the Area 1 dashboard.
Go to Settings (the gear icon).
On Email Configuration, go to Allow List > Allowed Patterns.
Select + New Pattern.
Enter the pattern information:
Allowed Pattern: Enter one of the following types of pattern:
- Email addresses, which must be a valid email.
- IP addresses, which can only be IPv4. IPv6 and CIDR are invalid entries.
- Regular expressions, which must be valid Java expressions.
Allow Type: Choose one or more of the following types:
- Trusted Sender: Messages will bypass all detections and link following by Area 1. Typically, only applies to phishing simulations from vendors such as KnowB4.
- Exempt Recipient: Will exempt messages from all Area 1 detections intended for recipients matching this pattern (email address or regular expression only). Typically, this only applies to submission mailboxes for user reporting to security.
- Acceptable Sender: Will exempt messages from the
Spam
,Spoof
, andBulk
dispositions (but notMalicious
orSuspicious
). Commonly used for external domains and sources that send mail on behalf of your organization, such as marketing emails or internal tools.
Notes: Provide additional notes about the allowed pattern.
Choose whether to Verify Sender, which applies the
Spoof
disposition for emails failing the SPF/DKIM/DMARC domain policy (only applicable for Trusted Sender and Acceptable Sender).Select Save.
CSV uploads
You can also upload a CSV file of multiple allowed patterns. The CSV file must be smaller than 150 KB, start with a header row of all required values, and contain no additional fields.
An example file would look like this:
Pattern, Notes, Verify Email, Trusted Sender, Exempt Recipient, Acceptable Senderwhale@notaphish.com, not a phish, true, true, false, true