This is not a new issue however, some at support have asked what to do when a customer calls in and there is a ticket indicating the e-mail account has been locked due to SASL abuse. Thank you for asking – here is some info that will help you out.
It basically means their account has been compromised and is sending out spam and we changed the password to stop it.
What to do: Reset customer’s e-mail password to a secure password. Check their username and IP in Mail Tools in NOMS for throttle limits being hit. If the IP has a throttle limit remember that this means they have a device sending unauthenticated and it’s settings will need to be corrected. Recommend they scan all computers and devices for any virus or malware. Use this script to play around and determine what password patterns are considered secure. http://howsecureismypassword.net/
Note: Anyone who comes up with a throttle limit of 30 or 75 recipients/hour will have a weak password and should have it changed right away. A normal throttle limit would be 450 recipients/hour.
Obviously, we do not want the customer to change their password to something like Grandma55 because that is a very weak password. Test a few password combinations and you will get the idea of a strong password.
If the account is used for connecting to the internet the modem or router may need PPPoE information updated as well. You could do a Screen Connect to the customer’s computer and then log into the modem or router and update the PPPoE login information before you change the password in NOMS.
If it is during business hours you may call in to ask us to update it if we have remote access to the modem or router. If it is a Wireless customer they generally use a Netgear router and we do not have remote access so the Screen Connect method is a must. If the customer is already offline they will need to be walked through updating the PPPoE info.