Server and System Status

The IP address of server NC020 has been removed from the Spamhaus Policy Block List. All email issues are resolved, and server configurations will return to normal.

If you have any questions concerning this incident, please contact support. We appreciate your patience.

While the IP address of server NC020 is still in the Spamhaus PBL, we have made a number of configuration changes to all of our mail servers which address three of the four issues mentioned in our original post on this matter:

• All email sent through server NC020 (known as “the relay server” to those of our clients who use it as such) is now routed to server NC018 before finally being delivered to destination mail servers. This means that email will no longer be delayed or rejected by destination mail servers.
• All email is (and has been since the first post on this matter) flowing from server NC020 to NC018.
• We are once again using the PBL to block spam on server NC018, so spam defences are back at 100%. We have simply exempted server NC020 from this block.
• Mail to domains using NC020 as a secondary mail server is still a concern. We’ll be monitoring this and reacting as necessary.

Server NC020 is also used for some custom mailing lists. Email sent to these lists will also be handled as detailed in the first bullet point above.

We still anticipate that the IP address of server NC020 will be removed from the PBL at some point, at which point the configurations of all mail servers will revert to what they were before this incident. Further details will be posted here as necessary.

Server NC020’s IP address is still in the Spamhaus PBL. We have been unable to make any progress on having it removed yet. This may be because it’s the weekend, or it may be that we’re just one of thousands of companies that have been affected by this action, and so we just have to be patient. In the meantime, we are trying to have our case looked at sooner rather than later.

We’re also going to take steps to have mail from server NC020 routed through NC018 as a temporary measure. We will post here again when this has been put into place.

Within the last few hours, the IP address of server NC020 has been added to the Spamhaus Policy Block List (PBL). This is well-known, major and useful anti-spam block list operated by a reputable anti-spam organisation, and we ourselves use this block list to protect our clients from spam. However, this affects our clients in four ways:

• Clients who use the relay server (NC020) may find that some of their outbound email will be delayed or rejected by destination servers. This is our primary concern at the moment, and we are working with the data centre (the company that actually owns the IP address) and, through them, Spamhaus to have the IP address removed from the PBL. Unfortunately, because this situation has just arisen with no notice, things are in a state of flux at the moment so we don’t have any idea when this will happen.
• Because there is a lot of email traffic from server NC020 (the relay server) to NC018 (our primary server), and because server NC018 uses the PBL to block spam, some clients sending email through the relay server to domains hosted by us would have found that their email was not delivered in the last few hours. We have since stopped using the PBL to block spam on server NC018, and so that email is flowing again. Any email that was delayed has now been delivered, and was not deleted or bounced.
• Because we have stopped using the PBL to block spam on server NC018, that means that clients with email hosted on that server (most of you) have just a little bit less spam protection than before. However, we use a number of effective block lists, and hopefully the temporary removal of just one of them won’t have a major impact. Once this situation is resolved, we will reinstate use of the PBL to protect you from spam.
• Finally, if you are operating your own mail server and are using the PBL, we suggest that you disable use of the PBL for now so that you can receive email that passes through server NC020. This would apply to you if you are using our back-up mail server (MX) service.

We will, of course, post further updates here as we learn more and as the situation progresses. We appreciate your patience.