Question : IP Reputation Issue - Barracuda Firewall blocking our emails

Apparently Barracuda just added us to their spam list because this week, for the first time, I received this email error message:

==============================
This message was created automatically by mail delivery software.

A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of its
recipients. This is a permanent error. The following address(es) failed:

  [email protected]
    SMTP error from remote mail server after RCPT TO:>:
    host mf01.zabco.net [208.123.210.22]: 554 Service unavailable; Client host [host2.healingcrystals.com] blocked using Barracuda Reputation; http://bbl.barracudacentral.com/q.cgi?ip=72.52.222.231
==============================

We do send out a monthly newsletter to 8000 subscribers, but these are all opt-in subscribers with a 1-click opt-out option and we maintain a list of all unsubscribed users so once unsubsribed we never send an email to that address again.  

I have several questions:

1. How can we get removed from the barracuda "poor" list.   I looked on mxtools.com and barracuda is the ONLY company that is listing us as spammers.  

2. Does anyone recommend spending $20 to register with barracuda to get on their whitelist?   This method of maintaining a whitelist does not sound ethical to me and so I am reluctant to pay the fee.

3. What can I do on our end and with our email server to configure it properly so that it has all the correct settings to minimize any reputation issues.   We use phplist now to send out our emails.

Thanks for your help!

Shawn Adler

Answer : IP Reputation Issue - Barracuda Firewall blocking our emails

From Barracuda's website:

We are sorry you have reached this page because an email was blocked based on its originating IP address having a "poor" reputation. The "poor" reputation may have been caused by one of the following reasons:

• Your email server contains a virus and has been sending out spam. 
• Your email server may be misconfigured. 
• Your PC may be infected with a virus or botnet software program. 
• Someone in your organization may have a PC infected with a virus or botnet program. 
• You may be utilizing a dynamic IP address which was previously utilized by a known spammer. 
• Your marketing department may be sending out bulk emails that do not comply with the CAN-SPAM Act. 
• You may have an insecure wireless network which is allowing unknown users to use your network to send spam. In some rare cases, your recipient's Barracuda Spam Firewall may be misconfigured. 

There are several problems with the setup of your domain:

1. Your MX record has a priority of 0 - some mail servers have a problem with this and it is recommended that you change it to 10. 
2. Your MX record points to healingcrystals.com whereas your mail server responds as host2.healingcrystals.com 
3. host2.healingcrystals.com points to IP 72.52.222.233 whereas healingcrystals.com points to 72.52.222.231 
4. You also don't have an SPF record setup for your domain. 

Please read my FAQ on problems sending mail to a specific domain which will help with this problem:

http://www.it-eye.co.uk/faqs/readQuestion.php?qid=2