return path: the ultimate guide to email blacklists

The Ultimate Guide to Email Blacklists

Dale Langley

Senior Consultant, Return Path.

dale.langley@returnpath.com

@email_dale

Way back when….

Way back when….

AHBL, ANT, Backscatter.org, BARRACUDA, BURNT-TECH, CASA-CBL, CASA-

CBL+, CASA-CDL, CBL, CYBERLOGIC, DEADBEEF, DNSBLINFO, DULRU,

EMAILBASURA, FABELSOURCES, FIVETEN, GIRL, GRIP, HIL, HIL, HILLI,

ICMFORBIDDEN, IMP-SPAM, IMP-WORM, INTERSIL, ivmSIP, ivmSIP/24,

KEMPTBL, KUNDENSERVER, LASHBACK, LNSGBLOCK, LNSGBULK, LNSGDUL,

LNSGMULTI, LNSGOR, LNSGSRC, SRBLCombined, MSRBL-Images, MSRBL-

Phising, MSRBL-Spam, MSRBL-Viruses, NERD, NETHERRELAYS,

NETHERUNSURE, NIXSPAM, NJABL, NJABLDUL, NJABLFORMMAIL,

NJABLMULTI, NJABLPROXIES, NJABLSOURCES, NLKUNBLACKLIST,

NLKUNWHITELIST, NOFALSEPOSITIVE, NOMOREFUNN, ORID, OSPAM, PDL,

PSBL, RANGERSBL, RATS-Dyna, RATS-NoPtr, RATS-Spam, REDHAWK, RRBL,

SCHULTE, SDERB, SENDERBASE, SERVICESNET, SOLID, SORBS-BLOCK, SORBS-

DUHL, SORBS-HTTP, SORBS-MISC, SORBS-SMTP, SORBS-SOCKS, SORBSSPAM,

SORBS-WEB, SORBS-ZOMBIE, SPAMCANNIBAL, SPAMCOP, Spamhaus-ZEN,

SPAMSOURCES, SPEWS1, SPEWS2, SWINOG, TECHNOVISION, TRIUMF,

UCEPROTECTL1, UCEPROTECTL2, UCEPROTECTL3, VIRBL, WPBL, WSFF,

ZONEEDIT, CSMA, DUINV, ORVEDB, RSBL, SPAMRBL

Who, What, When, Where & Why!

Inbox, Bulk or Block?

Content Filtering

Whitelists

Blacklists

Part of a bigger picture

Spam Trap Hits

Hard Bounces

RFC Compliance

Sender Reputation

Return Path Certification

Complaints Subscriber

Engagement

Sender Compliance

But I don’t spam…

• RBL

(Real-time Black List)

• DNSBL

(Domain Name Server Black List)

Types of blacklist

• SURBL

(Spam URL Real-time Blocklist)

Other types of blacklist

• bl.score.senderscore.com

• bl.spamcop.net

• cbl.abuseat.org

• psbl.surriel.com

• rp.invaluement.com

• sbl.spamhaus.org

• ubl.unsubscore.com

• xbl.spamhaus.org

Which ones are important?

Who is affected?

% IP addresses blacklisted by country

Czech Republic

Hong Kong

India China

Brazil

And when?

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

xbl.spamhaus.org

sbl.spamhaus.org

rp.invaluement.com

psbl.surriel.com

pbl.spamhaus.org

dnsbl.ahbl.org

cbl.abuseat.org

bl.spamcop.net

SE

P

OC

T

NO

V

DE

C

AU

G

JU

L

JU

N

MA

Y

AP

R

MA

R

FE

B

JA

N

Is a blacklisting so bad?

-45%

-40%

-35%

-30%

-25%

-20%

-15%

-10%

-5%

0%

Spam

hau

s P

BL

Spam

hau

s SB

L

Spam

hau

s X

BL

Surr

iel

AH

BL

Ab

use

at C

BL

Gmail

Yahoo

Imp

act

on d

eliv

era

bili

ty

How do I know if I’m listed?

How do I know if I’m listed?

How do I know if I’m listed?

Why am I blacklisted?

What can I do about a blacklisting?

Preventing blacklisting

Preventing blacklisting

(It’s all about list hygiene)

Do not buy email addresses

Obtain and keep proof of permission

Send only to people who are reading your email

Employ rigorous bounce processing procedures

Have an obvious & working unsubscribe method

Provide a feedback mechanism (reply address)

Register with Abuse.net

Maintain clear & accurate domain information

Monitor & act on all complaints

Thank You!

Dale Langley

Senior Consultant, Return Path.

dale.langley@returnpath.com

@email_dale