Acceptable Use Policy

Last Updated: 31.10.2026

This Acceptable Use Policy (“AUP”) outlines the rules for using services provided by VirtuaHost, a trading name of VirtuaHost Ltd (company number 17553293) (“we”, “us”, “our”). By using our services, you agree to comply with this AUP in addition to our Terms of Service.

1. Purpose

This AUP is designed to protect our network, our customers, and the wider internet community from harm, abuse, and illegal activity. It applies to all users of VirtuaHost services.

2. Prohibited Activities

You may not use VirtuaHost services for any of the following:

2.1 Illegal Activities

• Hosting or distributing illegal content
• Fraud, identity theft, or financial crimes
• Child sexual abuse material (CSAM)
• Terrorism-related content
• Violations of UK law or applicable international regulations

2.2 Intellectual Property Violations

• Hosting pirated content (movies, games, software, etc.)
• Sharing cracked programs
• Infringing copyrighted or trademarked material

2.3 Abusive or Harmful Behaviour

• Harassment, threats, or hate speech
• Defamation or doxxing
• Hosting content intended to cause harm to individuals or groups

2.4 Security Violations

• Unauthorized access to networks, accounts, or systems
• Port scanning or vulnerability scanning without permission
• Running botnets, malware, ransomware, keyloggers, or trojans
• Hosting phishing pages or credential-harvesting tools

2.5 Network Abuse

• Launching or participating in DDoS attacks
• Traffic flooding or network disruption
• Operating open proxies, open resolvers, or abuse-prone services

2.6 Email & Messaging Abuse

• Sending unsolicited bulk email (“spam”)
• Email spoofing or header forgery
• Using mailing lists without verification or consent

To limit spam, outbound email on ports 25 and 465 (SMTP) is blocked on our servers. You can still send email through a mail service that accepts connections on port 587, or through an email provider's API. We may change these restrictions at any time.

3. Resource Usage

Customers must use resources responsibly. Prohibited usage includes:

• Excessive CPU, RAM, disk, or bandwidth use that affects others
• Running cryptocurrency mining operations
• Sustained heavy use that consistently degrades the shared hardware or network for other customers

4. Customer Responsibility

You are responsible for:

• All content hosted on your service
• Any user activity done through your account or servers
• Keeping your software up to date
• Ensuring end-users comply with this policy if you resell services
• Keeping your server secure. If your server is compromised and used for abuse, you are still responsible for that activity

5. Reporting Abuse

To report abuse originating from a VirtuaHost server, use our form at virtuahost.uk/abuse or email abuse@virtuahost.uk.

Please include the IP address or web address involved, the date and time (with time zone), and any logs, message headers or links that show the problem.

We review every report. We act on serious reports (such as phishing, malware, illegal content or attacks on others) as quickly as we can, and we may not be able to tell you the outcome.

If you are reporting child sexual abuse imagery, please also report it to the Internet Watch Foundation at report.iwf.org.uk.

6. Investigations and Cooperation

If we receive a report, or we have reasonable grounds to suspect, that a service is being used in breach of this AUP or the law, we may investigate. This can include looking at logs, traffic and account information and, where reasonably necessary, accessing the affected server and its data, limited to what is needed for the investigation.

We may preserve data and evidence, and we may disclose information about your account and your use of the service to the police, courts and regulators and, where the law allows or requires it, to the person who made the report. We will not give your name, contact or billing details to the person who made the report unless the law or a court order requires it. We may report illegal content to the relevant authorities, including the Internet Watch Foundation and the National Crime Agency.

7. Enforcement

If we find or reasonably believe that this AUP has been breached, we may take any of the following actions, in whatever order is appropriate:

• Warn you
• Suspend the affected service or your account
• Remove or disable access to the offending content
• Terminate the service or your account permanently
• Take or support legal action where required

Serious breaches (for example illegal content, phishing, malware, attacks on other networks, or anything that puts our network or other customers at risk) may result in immediate suspension without notice. For less serious breaches (for example a spam complaint or a copyright notice) we will normally email you first and allow you a reasonable time, usually 24 to 48 hours, to put things right before suspending.

We will not refund or credit fees for a service that is suspended or terminated because of a breach of this AUP. This does not affect any other legal rights you have.

8. Unmetered Bandwidth and Fair Use

Some servers are sold with Unmetered bandwidth, which means there is no monthly data allowance. An Unmetered server runs at the same port speed as our other plans, but our network is shared between all customers, so a fair-use speed limit applies.

• If an Unmetered server's traffic, in either direction, stays at or above 200 Mbit/s for 10 seconds in a row, we automatically slow it to 50 Mbit/s for 10 minutes.
• After that its speed returns to normal. If the heavy use continues, the same limit applies again.
• The limit is automatic and only looks at how much traffic a server sends and receives, never at what it contains. It does not suspend the server.
• Short bursts, and light or occasional use, are not affected.

We may change these figures to keep the network fair for everyone. If we make them stricter, we will email Unmetered customers at least 30 days beforehand, as set out in section 13 of our Terms of Service, unless an urgent change is needed to protect the network. Unmetered bandwidth is not permission to use the network in a way that affects other customers: the rest of this policy still applies, and we may take further action under section 7 where use is abusive.

9. Changes to This AUP

We may update this Acceptable Use Policy from time to time, and the current version is always on this page with its "Last Updated" date. If a change significantly affects you, we will email you at least 30 days before it takes effect, as set out in section 13 of our Terms of Service. Changes needed to comply with the law or to stop immediate abuse or harm to the network may take effect straight away.