“IP Reputation and removal” from blacklists

The IP public address – or range of IP addresses – is assigned to the router connected to the Internet connection and identifies unequivocally the device that requires access to the net and directs the incoming and outgoing traffic. Obviously, this is valid both for IPv4 and IPv6 addresses.

Every day, several tens of thousands of addresses and ranges of this type end up in international blacklists because of dangerous or incorrect behaviors by the connected users, creating genuine problems in communications (es. sending of Spam, access to websites deemed illegal, etc.).

But let’s see together what IP Reputation specifically means. The different global Authorities continuously analyze the quality and integrity of data transiting in the web, both incoming and outgoing, they attribute a ranking and classify as trustworthy sources of traffic the IP addresses that exchange certified and safe data. Technically speaking, the “reputation” of an IP address is compromised when, either in an aware or unaware mode, the users carry out actions that damage other devices connected to the public net.

As a consequence, if sufficient precautions are not adopted, it is very easy to receive a penalizing ranking by the competent Authorities.
This evaluation is highly sensitive to several factors, such as random sending of emails, web navigation towards dangerous websites or inappropriate contents. The presence of breaches in perimetral security has an effect on the ranking as well, since some protocols could be exploited without us knowing, leading to the exposure to viruses and hacking attempts.

We shall not forget that IP Reputation influences that of all the users who navigate and visit that Public IP on the web. This means that all problems penalize hundreds of lower-level connections that are safe, trustworthy and certified. For example, some service providers like Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc. can reject accesses coming from IP addresses that are part of blacklists Black List Removal that require several days before they are accepted. And if the malicious traffic present online is not healed quickly, removing it later will be much more difficult and postponed in time.

Problems caused by a compromised IP reputation

Numerous problems arise once the IP Reputation has been compromised and the IP has been added to a Blacklist:

» The first problem pertains to email traffic, hence the outgoing communications from the Server, which could end up in SPAM. If the IP is compromised, both important communications to customers and advertisements result as stemming from an email domain deemed little trustworthy, and therefore could end up in undesired mail, which is often not considered. The damage consists in unread messages and in the jeopardising of marketing investments. On top of this, there is a loss of public image for the sender, who will appear as untrustworthy to the eyes of those who discover his messages in the spam folder.

» A second problem, very common problem is CAPTCHA, which is required when you wish to access a page in order to verify and certify the access of the user, and that results in several slow down in content use.

» A third problem, still, exists for the users who want to play Streaming contents online and through SmartTVs, since among their checks they also include IP Reputation. If the public address is listed in specific blacklists, it can be impossible for the user to access the requested contents.

What the industry experts see is that the increase in the number of devices that enjoy Internet access is mirrored by an increase in the possibility to receive a bad IP Reputation. Global Black lists as well are applying rules and classification criteria that are more and more severe and strict, making the process of Black List Removal more and more difficult and in some cases even arduous.

The problem is becoming difficult to manage, especially in Organizations where the net and connected devices are available for several people. For this reason, Internet Service Providers prefer to adopt preventive measures and especially professional navigation filters, otherwise they will shortly have compromised IP addresses, difficult to rectify.

An intelligence that applies advanced technologies of Web Filtering like FlashStart is the first, essential stem in the prevention of IP Reputation problems and towards reducing the requests for Black List Removal, which hassle IT workers every day.