Barracuda has recently made changes to how expired licenses are handled, and it is important for businesses to be aware of the risks. In the past, if your Barracuda Email Security or Email Gateway license expired, email would usually continue to pass for a short grace period. That is no longer the case.
If a Barracuda license expires today, email can stop flowing immediately. Inbound and outbound messages may be blocked or delayed, and delivery can continue to fail until the renewal is fully processed. Even after renewing, it can take hours for queued emails to reprocess and fully clear out.
This change means that an expired license now creates an instant disruption instead of a short-term inconvenience. Barracuda treats expired subscriptions as a potential security risk, disabling filtering services until the license becomes active again.
Why This Matters:
Holiday and weekend timing increases the risk. If your renewal date lands near a long weekend, major holiday, or year-end schedule freeze, you could experience delays in license processing. Support response times are also slower during these periods. This leaves organizations without email during important times, such as financial deadlines or peak customer activity.
To avoid downtime, renew early. Ideally, start renewals 30 days before expiration. Confirm that Barracuda has the correct billing and technical contacts on file. Do not assume automation or billing systems will process renewals accurately without verification. If you receive any expiration notices, notify your IT team immediately.
If your organization works with a managed service provider, they can track renewal dates, confirm activation, verify message queues are clearing, and ensure all services come back online properly after renewal.
The bottom line: once a license expires, Barracuda no longer provides a grace period. Email delays and failures will happen. Prevent disruption by keeping renewals up to date and planning ahead, especially around holidays and weekends.