Error messages occasionally appear within the portal, providing feedback to the user regarding their platform usage. These standard errors often occur when a user attempts to access an unauthorized resource, a session has timed out, or a user tries to access a previously deleted resource. These messages typically appear near the top of the portal page.
Inaccessible Portal Error
If the portal itself is inaccessible and you receive a generic "Access Denied" error that resembles a security block, this is generally the portal's security protection controls being applied. These controls are essential for safeguarding the platform and its users against malicious actors or can sometimes be due to temporary server errors
Portal security protection controls
Portal Security Protection Controls
The security controls protecting the portal include:
Explicit IP blocking / blocklisting
Location-based blocklisting
Rule-based blocking (e.g., Web Application Firewall protections)
Reputation-based blocking
HTTP request rate controls (e.g., Denial-of-Service or DoS protections)
The following activities may trigger these security controls:
Web application layer attacks such as: SQL Injection, Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), Local File Inclusion (LFI), Remote Command Execution (RCE), Remote File Inclusion (RFI), etc.
Volumetric attacks or similar high-rate HTTP traffic.
Automated web activities like web contents scraping, data mining, or web content indexing.
Web vulnerability scanning using automated tools.
It's important to note that a completely inadvertent action can sometimes trigger the security policy, or you might be connecting from an internet address (IP) that currently has a poor reputation for reasons you are unaware of.
Addressing False Positives
False positives—where a legitimate user is mistakenly blocked—can occur. While we continually tune our policies to maximize accuracy, maintaining strong portal security is equally vital to keep the platform and its users safe.
Here are the immediate steps you can try:
Retry / Refresh: Refresh the page or retry the request. A temporary server error may be transient, and a retry might resolve the issue immediately.
Wait 10 Minutes and Retry: If a client request violates the security policy, the source IP address may be placed in a "penalty box" and denied access for 10 minutes. After this period, the client is released, and requests are no longer denied, unless another violation occurs, which triggers another 10-minute block.
Troubleshooting Your IP Reputation
On the internet, your reputation follows you. If your IP address is flagged for poor behavior on one site, it may lead to being blocked on others. A key troubleshooting step is to determine if your organization is inadvertently performing one of the listed activities that could negatively affect your reputation.
You can use a service like Akamai's Client Reputation lookup tool(or a similar reputable service) to check your connecting IP address's reputation score. If you believe you were mistakenly flagged as malicious, you can submit an investigation request. Supplying the Reference #18.xxxx and page information from the "Access Denied" error message will also aid in further investigation.