How do I restore reputation after a hack?

Question

Email was hacked. Tried to send email to contacts letting them know account was hacked. Now everything bounces back undelivered because my email is identified as a 'suspected of sending spam.' Need to restore reputation so I can send emails.

Answer 1

Hi @Tim Engelmeyer
Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum. 
I'm really sorry to hear that your account was compromised. If your emails are now being flagged as spam, here’s a guide to help restore your sender reputation, based on Microsoft’s official best practices: 

1.Ensure your account is fully secured by following this Microsoft's guidance Responding to a Compromised Email Account - Microsoft Defender for Office 365 | Microsoft Learn 

2.Review and remove any blocked users as outlined in Remove blocked users from the Restricted entities page - Microsoft Defender for Office 365 | Microsoft Learn 

-Check your domain reputation by using tools: Smart Network Data Services or Office 365 Delist Portal to know if your domain or IP is on a blocklist and allow you to request removal. 

-Email authentication help to build sender's reputation, so please configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records. These authentication protocols help email providers verify the legitimacy of your messages and significantly improve your reputation as a trusted sender. 
3.Use a different Microsoft account temporarily to notify contacts that your original account was compromised and avoid sending bulk messages from the compromised account until its reputation improves. 

Building & maintaining good reputation is a long-term proposition. While the tools above will support your progress, if you have an urgent deliverability issue, please have the person most familiar with the issue and your email infrastructure contact sender support. 

I hope this helps! If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

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