IXON utilizes a range of IP addresses for its secure cloud infrastructure and provided services. Occasionally, one or more of these legitimate IXON IP addresses might be mistakenly included in third-party blocklists. It's important to understand that traffic to and from these IXON IP addresses is necessary for providing our services and is not malicious.

Here's why this might happen:

1. List focus mismatch: Many blocklists, such as SpamRATS and others, primarily focus on identifying sources of e-mail spam. They may incorrectly flag server IP addresses that handle different types of legitimate traffic (like IXON's) if their detection methods are overly broad.
2. Misattribution: Automated systems used by list maintainers can sometimes misattribute activity, leading to incorrect listings.
3. IP address history and reuse: Cloud providers often recycle and reassign IP addresses. An IP address newly assigned to IXON might still carry a negative reputation from a previous, unrelated user. While IXON works with providers to acquire clean IP addresses, some blocklists may retain the old negative listing for a period.

Troubleshooting steps

If you suspect a blocklist is preventing IXON connections or is rejecting IXON's e-mails:

1. Confirm the issue

The first step is to confirm the issue.

If you're experiencing connectivity issues with the edge gateway, check your firewall logs and look for denied or blocked connections from the edge gateway's local IP address to destinations associated with IXON (IP list). Look for keywords such as 'blocked by [list name]', 'threat feed block', 'IP reputation', 'DNSBL/RBL hit'.

If you're experiencing issues with receiving e-mails, check your mail server for rejected e-mails from IXON (Where are IXON's e-mails sent from?).

2. Allowlist IXON domains and IPs

The most effective way to resolve this issue is typically to create explicit allow rules for IXON's domains and IP addresses. These rules usually overrule general threat intelligence feeds or blocklists.

Regarding IXON’s server domains and IP addresses, used for edge gateway connections, please see the following article for information and various methods: Ports, protocols, and servers used by the edge gateway and VPN Client.

Regarding IXON's e-mail sender information, please see Where are IXON's e-mails sent from? instead.

3. Review and adjust firewall threat feeds

Alternatively, if your firewall identifies a specific third-party blocklist (like SpamRATS or similar) as the source of the block, consider removing the problematic list firewall's active threat intelligence feeds. Consult your firewall vendor's documentation for instructions.

4. Contact support

If you have confirmed a blocklist issue via logs, implemented allowlisting, reviewed the specific list settings, and you are still experiencing issues, please gather your firewall logs showing the blocks and contact IXON Support for further assistance.