Hi, I had sent an important email the other day and it got bounced back to me because my sites IP is in the block spam list. I have never sent a spam email. I don't even send my visitors newsletters. I have never sent a spam email in my time on the web and am actually dead against it. Now I have found that I can't send spam and that my site is in the spam list. Why could this have happend as my site is on a dedicated server and I am the only one that has sites on it and no one else. It is affect the way I do things and is likely to damage my business. I had sent another important email today and it has just go bounced back as it is on a block spam list with another company which is different from the first blocked spam site. These emails are important and need to get sent out ASAP. I can't do this as my IP is block. How can I protect my IP against spam and how did this happen in the first place when I only can send email from my sites ip and no one else can. I looked at the first emails blocked site to see why I may have got blocked. The reason is that I have apparently spammed from 8 different email addresses. These email address is not even set up on my server and have never been setup by me. They are email address that I would never use. Please help! What should I do to protect myself. Is there something that I need to activate in my server or something. Thanks!
You need to make sure that your email server does not allow "Relaying". If spammers have found that they can send email through your server, then that is problably why your IP has been blocked. To prevent relaying, your email server should only handle email which is a) sent from a valid IP address within your domain, and b) sent from a valid email address within your domain. Any client's that connect from outsite your domain, or with a foreign email address should be blocked. Once you've done that, then you need to try to get your IP unblocked. I'm sure that if you explain the situation they will do so. Also make sure that you are fully virus protected. Cryo.
There could be a few different suggestions here. Is it actually your server IP that is on a black list? or do you send via your ISP the outbound emails? If so then it could be your ISP that is blacklisted. If your actual servers IP(s) are blacklisted then it could be because of a vulnerable form on your site that was exploited. You would be best checking all forms that send out email. Also secure any SMTP service you run and make sure you allow no relaying. It might not be your IP that caused a problem, but could be that your datacentre did not act quick enough and the blacklist decided to block a whole subnet which then inturn effected you. Set up an SPF record at http://www.openspf.org/wizard.html .. you might have been subject to a joe job and this "might" help curb the problem depending on if the receiving mail servers check your DNS for SPF records and act on it. If you do send through your dedicated server your outbound email then switch to sending through your ISP, but keeping your email address the same as before. ISP's tend to not need a username and password to send the email if you are connected to the internet through them.
It's the IP of my server that has been banned. I don't know what relaying is, but I have reported this issue to my web hosting company and hopefully they will sort it all out. I souldn't have any problem with my scripts, I don't think as I have written them myself and have done all the email validation on them.
Relaying is when you permit people to send email via your server. The best way is to block all people from access to SMTP unless they can authenticate via a username and password. Just make sure your scripts have some kind of verification sucj as image although thats not always a full proof way of protecting your server. If it's a dedicated server then the host might not be interested... it depends if it's managed and if it is managed, to what level they cover. It will be in your interest to see where the problem is as quick as possible if they do not cover this.
Hi, I have now sorted the issue out. It was something that I did wrong by uploading a script that had no validaton what so ever only because it was working, but I hadn't done the valiation yet. In other words it was not really read to go up live and I had put it up by mistake and people had taken an avantage to this. I have checked all my sites email forms and validation is in place on them all. It was just that one form which now has validation on. I bet the spammers will get really annoyed when they fill in the email form next time and it says "sorry, but you have input an invalid email address"
It's usually automated bots that do the spamming so I am sure no one will be upset They will just move to the next vulnerable server and continue what they are programmed to do! Glad you found the issue. Spam issues suck
Yeah, spam issues and site hacking sucks. Why can't people just do things properly and not try to damage other peoples business.