Showing posts with the label dnsbl

Does Spamhaus matter today?

Short answer: Yes. Longer answer: Still yes, and here's why. Spamhaus. If you're in the business of sending email, you've probably heard the name. Maybe not as much lately. But that doesn't mean you can ignore them. Right now, email senders are heads-down trying to get their SPF, DKIM, and DMARC right. Between new MAGY sender requirements, complaint rate thresholds, and prop…
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Spamhaus blocking queries from Digital Ocean Cloud servers

As part of their continuing efforts to lock down unrestricted public access to their reputation data, Spamhaus has announced that as of February 14, 2024, they'll be blocking DNSBL queries made via Digital Ocean's Cloud Server infrastructure. Read more about it here . T…

Spamhaus: The return of the ASN-DROP

Spamhaus just announced that they've "reinvigorated" the ASN-DROP list , now available in JSON format. The point of this whole thing is for network operators (think ISPs and similar) to just totally block off any potential connections with really bad networks that…

Spamhaus is not blocking Gmail

A friend warned me of a scenario that could have the potential to freak people out, if misunderstood. It looks like this: This person is using Spamhaus to filter inbound mail. They seem to be rejecting mail from Gmail due to a Spamhaus listing. The Spamhaus website DOES suggest…

Abusix: 8 ways on how ESPs and DNSBL providers can collaborate better

Steve Freegard, Sr. Product Owner Abusix Intelligence recently shared his thoughts on how ESPs can better position themselves with regard to blocking list (DNSBL) issues. He recommends segmenting traffic by IP address, using different subdomains or domains for each customer, li…

Spamhaus updates lookup tool

Anti-spam group Spamhaus, publishers of various widely-used blocking lists (including the SBL), has recently updated their blocking list lookup tool. Previously this was "Blocklist Removal Center," now replaced with their new " Reputation Checker " site that…

Spamcop glitch over the weekend; since fixed

The Cisco-owned Spamcop.net  spam reporting and blocking list service ran into a bit of trouble this weekend as their "spamcop.net" domain name was allowed to expire. The domain's DNS records reverted to some default "parking" setting by (I think) their…

Lashback UBL blocklist: OFFLINE

LashBack's unsubscribe blacklist (" UBL "), as described by its publisher "is a unique, real-time blacklist of IP addresses which have sent email to addresses harvested from suppression files." It's a neat idea, an interesting way to monitor for fai…

Need simple DNSBL/blocking list tracking?

If you need simple DNSBL blocking list (or blacklist) tracking, here's a couple of services that both seem to work well: Debouncer and RBL Tracker . Both are free if monitoring only a single IP address. For Debouncer, you can monitor up to ten IP addresses at an 8 hour int…

Dead DNSBLs: all.rbl.webiron.net and bsb.spamlookup.net

Two anti-spam blocking lists appear to have died or malfunctioned recently. Users on the Mailop mailing list are reporting that Webiron (all.rbl.webiron.net) blocklist appears to be malfunctioning. Its domain has expired and the temporary holding pattern pending payment or ter…

Spamhaus Blocklist Changes

Speaking of Spamhaus, this just popped up in my RSS feed reader. It looks like Spamhaus is going to take a harder stance against users who query their lists via open or public DNS systems (such as Google Public DNS or Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 Service). They're going to r…

MegaRBL DNSBL FUBAR

Over on the Word to the Wise blog, Laura Atkins explains what happened with that spate of short-term MegaRBL DNSBL listings you may have noticed last week.

Ask Al: Remove me from APEWS?

Andrej writes, "Hello, I would like to ask you to remove my IP address from APEWS.org blocklist. Thank you very much." Andrej, thanks for reaching out. I wish I could offer you my assistance. But I cannot help you. Every once in a while, somebody will email me thinkin…

Another Dead DNSBL

It seems as though my website over at DNSBL.com has turned into a graveyard for dead DNSBLs. Over the past few years, I've observed more than a dozen blacklists go missing, and I've written  about more than a dozen others who were shut down prior to that or weren't…

RFC Ignorant Blacklist Shutting Down

One-time Yahoo administrator  Derek Balling has announced that the RFC Ignorant blocking list is being shut down . This blocking list had existed since at least  late 2001 . Its listing criteria including things like not having an "abuse" or "postmaster"addr…

DNSBL Safety Report 5/14/2011

SpamTips.org, a website devoted to SpamAssassin Tips ( SpamAssassin being the wildly popular open-source spam filter) recently posted a wonderful DNSBL Safety Report , showing hit rates against both spam and non-spam (false positives) for various blacklists commonly used in Spa…

Have you checked out NiX Spam?

Marcel Lohmann, one of the admins behind the NiX Spam DNSBL , reached out to me to ask me if I would review this DNSBL. I haven't published any new blacklist reviews in a couple of years (and that's not likely to change any time soon), but I am happy to link to his Spam…

How To (or How Not To) Operate a Blacklist

Today, Return Path posted a short but very helpful set of guidelines that one should keep in mind when operating a DNSBL anti-spam blacklist . It's a must read.

The view from a blacklist operator

Steve Atkins from Word to the Wise explains why it's so important to make sure you're querying a blacklist correctly. Get it wrong, you end up blocking no spam at all, or worse, you end up blocking all of your inbound mail accidentally. Spam filter authors -- it'…