Dear Site Owner,
We would like to inform you and the contacts on your account of an upcoming change to our email sending policies for the (gs) Grid-Service.
| What’s this about? |
Earlier this week we touched on the ever-evolving battle against SPAM in our (gs) Updates post (https://bit.ly/sOCL). We talked about the recent blocklisting issues and new methods our Engineers are taking in stopping outgoing spam. We have implemented several changes behind the scenes to combat this activity.
| What is changing? |
We will be introducing additional changes that may potentially affect the functionality of scripts used by legitimate, non-abusive customers.
We will start blocking all outgoing mail attempts that establish a direct MX connection over port 25. Initial observations indicate that less than 0.25% of our entire customer base uses this method to send email. While few customers use this method, it accounts for a substantial amount of preventable SPAM.
Blocking this activity will reduce outgoing spam, which will in turn help our reputation with external, third-party RBLs (Real Time Blocklist) and ISPs (Internet Service Providers). Ultimately the best way to not get listed is to prevent spam from leaving our network, so this is the ideal solution.
| Are you blocking access to port 25? |
Yes and no. What we intend to do is block OUTBOUND access to port 25. Establishing an STMP connection through an email application or script is considered an INBOUND connection. Nothing will change in that regard. Customers can continue using email just as they have been. This change only affects outbound SMTP connection attempts over this specific port.
| I use this method you describe for legitimate reasons. |
We want to work with any customer who is legitimately using this method to send email. Given the vast capabilities of modern programming frameworks we understand there can be many options available to a webmaster. Our goal is not to provide an inconvenience to our customers, but to help prepare for this change now, proactively, without disruption.
| How can I help? |
* Usage Report — Our engineers will be generating a report shortly that will capture this activity over a 24-48 hour period. We will then attempt to contact the Account Owners of these services to provide any further clarification or guidance.
* Internal Tracker — If you wish to provide us insight on this topic, we welcome you to open a Support Request in the AccountCenter with the subject heading “Upcoming mail policy change” (no quotes). Your request will be attached to our tracker, and we will assist you in any way we can.
* Forums discussion thread — We have created a discussion in our (mt) User Forums at https://bit.ly/SQwzA. We encourage you to stop by to contribute your thoughts and/or feedback. If you have not already signed up for our User Forums please do so by following our article at https://bit.ly/mDA5S.
We appreciate any customers who wish to be involved in this change. We are committed to providing improvements to your service. Thank you for choosing (mt) Media Temple.
Best Regards,
(mt) Media Temple Hosting Operations
