What should I do if I see bad reputation foreign IPs associated with my domain in Google Postmaster Tools but no other issues?

Email marketer from Reddit suggests that if you notice bad IPs but no other issues, it might be a good idea to tighten up security on your email accounts and check for any unauthorized access. It’s likely spam, but better safe than sorry.

Email marketer from Mailjet explains that sender reputation issues, even from foreign IPs, should prompt a thorough review of your email sending practices. They advise checking for compromised accounts, ensuring proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and verifying your sending lists are clean and permission-based.

Email marketer from GlockApps advises using seed list testing to monitor your email deliverability and identify potential issues with inbox placement. This can help you proactively address deliverability problems before they impact your sender reputation.

Email marketer from Litmus recommends using tools to verify your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are correctly configured. These records are crucial to ensure that your email is properly authenticated and less likely to be flagged as spam.

Expert from Email Geeks shares a link to their article on subdomain squatters which highlights the switch from DKIM replay attacks to exploiting stolen subdomains. Mentions guard.io provides scale to how big the attacks are.

Email marketer from Postmark recommends monitoring your domain and IP address for inclusion on email blocklists. Being listed on a blocklist can negatively impact your deliverability, so it's important to address any listings promptly.

Email marketer from MessageBird emphasizes the importance of continuous monitoring of your domain's reputation and authentication status. They suggest setting up alerts for unusual activity and proactively investigating any deviations from your established sending patterns.

Email marketer from Validity recommends investigating the root cause of sudden reputation changes, even if other metrics seem normal. They advise checking for unusual sending patterns, confirming the integrity of your email infrastructure, and examining feedback loops for potential complaints.

Email marketer from Twilio SendGrid explains maintaining a clean and engaged email list is crucial for sender reputation. Remove inactive subscribers and those who have not given explicit consent to receive emails to reduce the risk of spam complaints and improve deliverability.

Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum suggests checking your mail server logs to see if you can identify the source of the emails being sent from those IPs. This might give you clues about whether it's a compromised account or some other issue.

Expert from Email Geeks indicates that the listed foreign IPs likely belong to a single organization engaging in snowshoe spam and suggests that spammers likely used the domain temporarily and are now finished, advising that no further action is needed.

Expert from Email Geeks recommends immediately removing the CNAME from the affected subdomain, explaining that a CNAME gives malicious senders full DNS control and allows them to send DMARC-passing email.

Expert from Email Geeks suggests that the issue likely involved unauthenticated email, which would explain why it had no significant impact on reputation or delivery.

Expert from Word to the Wise responds that even without immediate delivery problems, the presence of bad IPs warrants an investigation into your email infrastructure. Check for compromised accounts, vulnerable scripts, or open relays that could be exploited to send spam using your domain.

Expert from SpamResource explains that a sudden appearance of bad reputation IPs in Postmaster Tools without other delivery issues suggests potential spam activity using your domain. They advise carefully monitoring your DMARC reports for unauthorized sending and ensuring SPF and DKIM are correctly implemented to prevent further abuse.

Documentation from DMARC.org recommends setting up and actively monitoring DMARC reports to gain insight into who is sending email using your domain, and whether they are properly authorized. This allows you to quickly identify and address unauthorized sending sources, which may include foreign IPs.

Documentation from RFC Editor states that ensuring that you have proper SMTP authentication to prevent unauthorized use of your domain for sending emails. Implementing and regularly reviewing authentication mechanisms helps to mitigate the impact of malicious actors using your domain's identity.

Documentation from Google Support explains that if you observe a sudden influx of bad reputation foreign IPs, it could indicate a temporary spam campaign using your domain. Google advises monitoring the situation but suggests that if your legitimate email traffic remains unaffected, no immediate action is necessary.

Documentation from Microsoft explains that reviewing sign-in logs to identify any unusual or suspicious login activity can help uncover compromised accounts being used to send spam. Taking steps to secure these accounts is crucial.