Email blacklisting is something that bothers every server owner.

When the server is on a blacklist it affects the server reputation and results in email failure.

Tools like Spamhaus XBL blacklist blocks the mail server IP address that sends spam virus or trojan.

That’s why we often get requests from our customers for Spamhaus XBL blacklist removal as part of our Server Management Services.

Today, we’ll see how our Support Engineers efficiently do Spamhaus XBL blacklist removal.

What happens if IP address listed in the blacklist?

The Spamhaus will blacklist the server IP address if you send spam or run a mail server that is not properly configured and allows spam to be sent.

If your IP is blacklisted, it means:

1. Someone uploaded a spam script by making use of a web application vulnerability.
2. Also, hacking may occur and results in sending spam mails through that account without the server owner’s knowledge.
3. There is a compromised email account on the servers and hackers use it for sending spam mails.

In addition, when Spamhaus block the server IP address, it will send a message to the server owner. It looks like,

Results of Lookup 85.X.X.X is listed This IP address was detected and listed 1 times in the past 28 days, and 0 times in the past 24 hours. The most recent detection was at Fri Aug 31 18:15:00 2018 UTC +/- 5 minutes

At the same time, the mail users on your server will get an error message while they send emails. The error message shows like,

"554 554 5.7.1 Your mail server XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX is listed at www.spamhaus.org".

And, a blacklist check of the IP address will show up as:

How we remove the IP address from the blacklist?

Till now we got an idea on how IP blacklisting look like.

This does not necessarily mean that there is cause for concern if your IP address is blacklisted. But, if we take too long to solve it, it can affect the reputation of the server. The creates problem with email delivery too. Therefore, it’s really critical to work on Spamhaus XBL blacklist removal at the earliest.

Now, let’s see how our Support Engineers fixed Spamhaus XBL blacklisting for our customers.

1. Firstly, we check whether the mail IP is blacklisted: https://mxtoolbox.com/blacklists.aspx

2. If Spamhaus blocked IP address, we find the root cause of blacklist.

3. We make sure all the network devices are not infected.

4. Then, we analyze the message sent by Spamhaus, we check the error log to find the email account that sent spam at the mentioned time in the Spamhaus message.

5. Next, we suspend the spam-sending account or email account.

6. After that, we scan the server with an antivirus to find the other infected files under the accounts.

7. Finally, we contact Spamhaus for removal of IP address removal from blacklisting.

Spamhaus team will review the server once again to see that there is no further spamming from the server. and, they lift the block for the server. Mails will start flowing again from the server.

[Are you listed in Spamhaus XBL blacklisting? We’ll quickly do Spamhaus XBL blacklist removal for you.]

Conclusion

In short, tools like Spamhaus XBL blacklist blocks the mail server IP address that sends spam virus or trojan. Today, we saw how our Support Engineers worked on Spamhaus XBL blacklist removal for one of our customers.