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IP Blacklisting
There are a number of organizations who track and monitor IP addresses for spam and related abuses. The information collected from these bodies is then used by host providers to check if an IP address is a known offender. We use SpamHaus to provide such a service.
SpamHaus Protection
SpamHaus are an independent body who track and list known and potential spammers by keeping a record of their IP address. You can visit their website here ...
When email is sent through our servers, the sender's IP address is checked against the SpamHaus list. If the sender's IP is listed with SpamHaus the email will not be sent and an error message will result.
This SpamHaus list was chosen for a few reasons ...
- it is very accurate
- it has an easy removal procedure
- it dramatically cuts down on spam, virus and fraud emails
- it lets the user know when and why email is being blocked
Also, SpamHaus have a good code of ethics which means it will not block an address without good reason and will not continue to block an address if there is reason to unblock it.
What is Spam
Whether or not you agree with it, the SpamHaus definition of spam is: if it is both Unsolicited and Bulk. In this context ...
'Unsolicited' means that the recipient has not granted verifiable permission for the message to be sent.
'Bulk' means that the message is sent as part of a larger collection of messages, all having substantively identical content.
IP Blacklisting
Most IP addresses are listed with SpamHaus because they have been used to send spam or viruses to the SpamHaus detectors (spam-traps, special addresses). When mail is received by one of their spam-traps, the connection is analysed automatically to determine if the connecting machine is either an open proxy or is running a spam-sending trojan. If found to be active, the IP address is immediately added to the SpamHaus blacklist.
Check Your IP
You can easily check whether your IP address is listed with SpamHaus by using the following tool ...
Visit the above page and click the link to run a check on the SpamHaus listing.
Check Your Computer
If you are listed on SpamHaus then it is very likely your computer has been compromised as well and you should run some security checks straight away. Do a check now for virus and spyware threats. We recommend all Internet users have a local firewall application to prevent spam and virus transfer. This should be in place and running permanently. It is also advisable to have a 'cut internet connection' button for when you leave your computer or when you need to shut down quickly.
Remove Your IP Blacklisting
If you are listed with SpamHaus then you can request to be removed. The removal process will be quite quick but the actual time to delist your IP is dependent on the SpamHaus system which is not under our control. To remove your IP, perform the above IP check, link to the SpamHaus list and the resulting page will provide you with the options to delist.
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Web Hosting and Web Development since 2001
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