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Microsoft\u2019s<\/a> email blocking practices have reportedly drawn complaints from a host of internet users.<\/p>\n As The Register reported<\/a> Wednesday (March 4), the company spent last week rejecting messages to Outlook recipients in what the report characterized as either a fault or overzealous security rules. One source called the situation \u201ccarnage.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the report, the issue affected certain IP addresses, whose emails were rejected for either appearing on a block list or violating reputation rules.<\/p>\n The Register cited comments from a reader who in late January noticed a \u201csudden spike in customers\u2019 static IPs being rejected by only Microsoft Outlook free\/personal accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n The message returned was a 550, informing customers to contact their Internet Service Provider (ISP) \u201csince part of their network is on our block list.\u201d<\/p>\n The report noted that while block lists can help prevent spam or addresses associated with junk mail, this reader\u2019s company had not run afoul of Microsoft, and the company\u2019s Smart Network Data Service (SNDS) showed no issues with the IP.<\/p>\n Advertisement: Scroll to Continue<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe\u2019re also a member of their JMRP (Junk Mail Reporting Program),\u201d the source told the Register, \u201cwhich is intended to inform us when people are reporting spam sent from our IPs \u2013 except, we never get any reports.\u201d<\/p>\n We\u2019d love to be your preferred source for news<\/a>.<\/p>\n Please add us to your preferred sources list so our news, data and interviews show up in your feed. Thanks!<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n This reader wasn\u2019t alone, the report said, with users on Microsoft\u2019s support forums reporting similar problems throughout February into this week.<\/p>\n The Register report noted one of the impacts of this issue: preventing businesses from responding to things like vendor errors, thus harming their reputation.<\/p>\n PYMNTS has reached out to Microsoft for comment, but has not yet gotten a reply aside from their acknowledgement of our initial contact.<\/p>\n In other cybersecurity news, PYMNTS wrote earlier this week about how the latest conflict in the Middle East raises risks for businesses<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cCyberattacks, which can often be conducted by non-state aligned individuals or ideologically motivated groups, are growing increasingly likely in times of heightened geopolitical confrontation,\u201d that report said.<\/p>\n Exacerbating the issue in 2026 is the rise of technologies<\/a> that operate beyond traditional IT governance frameworks. This vulnerability layer, composed of so-called \u201cshadow AI\u201d and unsanctioned applications, can come about as companies rapidly employ AI-powered tools<\/a>, often without formal risk controls or visibility, and inadvertently heighten their attack surface.<\/p>\n This unmonitored layer can both introduce new vulnerabilities and obscure the tracking of risk propagation back to the enterprise,\u201d PYMNTS added.<\/p>\n