BlackLists

Previous  Top  Next

Ever wish there was a comprehensive list of spammers? Well so do we, but unfortunately the closest thing is the blacklists. The blacklists contain the IP addresses of all the known spam servers and open relay servers (used by spammers). These lists of spam servers are built different ways. Some of them set spam traps where they put an e-mail address out on web pages and other public places so that it gets on the big lists of e-mails. Then they blacklist anybody who sends to that e-mail address. Others collect the spam e-mail from lots of people and if there are enough of the same message they assume it is spam and blacklist the server. The Blacklist Analyzer lets you check the list to see if the e-mail was sent from a blacklisted server. There are lots of blacklists and Spam Sleuth Enterprise includes most of them. You should only use one at a time because they can take several seconds per message to check.

The BlackList Analyzer uses free blacklist databases to check whether the e-mail in question was sent by a known spam server. These databases allow Spam Sleuth Enterprise™ to look up an IP address and determine whether it came from a known spam sending machine.

blak'list n., v., list-ed, -list-ing - a list of persons who are under suspicion, disfavor, or censure, or who are not to be hired, served, or otherwise accepted.

You may be tempted to turn on all of the black lists, but it really isn't necessary. Most of them contain the same or at least similar information. Some of them are subsets of the others. It would be better to increase the number of points assigned when the one blacklist reports that the e-mail was sent by a known spam server. By default, Spam Sleuth Enterprise™ uses SpamCop, which seems to be one of the more accurate lists

These lists are built in different ways. Some of them use spam traps where they put a brand new e-mail address out on a web page and then "trap" everybody who sends to that e-mail. Some are built by taking a weighted average based on how many people send them copies of the same spam message from the same server.

Each list that you check will take 3 to 5 seconds to check if the e-mail is not from a spammer (negative response). It takes about 1 second to check if the e-mail is from a known spammer (positive response).

You can edit the number of points assigned when a blacklist reports that the IP is a known spammer.