I have created a custom rule to allow an email address or domain through but it is still being blocked

Issue encountered

I have created a custom rule to allow an email address or domain through but it is still being blocked.

This article shows why creating a custom rule can sometimes not be enough to allow an email address or domain through Kerio Connect.

Solution

Creating a custom rule to allow an email address or domain through Kerio Connect on some occasions cannot be enough. A common problem with this is that the email address or domain you are trying to ‘whitelist’ by creating a custom rule is also on an internet blacklist. By default Kerio is set to block any email traffic that is on a blacklist that has been enabled. The way around this is to do the following:

  1. Check the spam log to see which blacklist the email address or domain is being detected on
  2. Then once you know which blacklist the email address or domain is on you will need to go to Configuration > Content Filter > Spam Filter > Blacklists
  3. Double click on the blacklist and change the option from ‘Block’ to ‘Add spam score to message’ (You can set the score to a value you see fit or you could make it equal to your block score set in the spam filter so that the blacklist will still block other spam)
  4. Then click ‘OK’ and apply the changes

The reason for changing the blacklist to add a score to the message instead of blocking is because the spam filter checks the blacklists before the custom rules. By setting the blacklist to add a score it allows the rest of the filtering settings to check the email.