IP Blacklisting Hits NZ Telecom Mail Servers
The folks here at CMS have said over and over to always watch your mail servers for accidental blacklisting, now here’s a recent item from New Zealand on that exact subject.
SORBS wrongly listing New Zealand IP space
Just take a look at this double-whammy from the article.
First email server IP addresses get blacklisted. Read into this email lost, business delayed and whole lot of other revenue killing stuff.
- “A large Telecom subnet has been black listed by sorbs, this happens to include some/all of their mail servers as well as many customers”
And now comes the second blow, “slow database updates” to correct the error
- “A number of announcements have been made by SORBS in various locations - there is an issue with slow database updates currently..."
Nice one-two punch, you get accidentally blacklisted and it will be some time before you are taken off the blacklist. Yes we put you on the list but be patient, it will take some time to remove you. Makes you want to scream "I did nothing wrong but I'm getting screwed".
Sounds like this accidental blacklisting of innocent mail servers could cause a lot of New Zealand Dollars (NZD) to go down the toilet (or is it a Loo in New Zealand?).
Looks like the perfect place for CMS’ BL-Monitor PRO. A simple purchase could have saved a lot of grief and NZD.
Check out BL-Monitor PRO before your NZD, USD, JPY, EUR, et al go down the toilet, loo, john, out-house etc.
AAS
Tags: DNSBL DNS Blacklist New Zealand email server
Revisiting Spam Vigilantes
I touched on this BLUE FROG service in a blog item in July of 2005 and they are back in the news again… “Anti-spam service shut down”
It seems that BLUE SECURITY (the Blue Frog folks) advocate running a “Denial-of-Service” (DoS) attack on spammer web to clog, slow and eventually shut them down.
So how did spammers view this problem and solve it? Well I quote from the news item… “spammers began threatening users and rendering the [BLUE SECURITY] site inaccessible”
Seems like the “DoS” approach has escalated to something more.
As I like to do, let's read between the lines...
- Forget vigilantism. It mostly leads to the other side getting a bigger stick. Then you need a bigger stick, etc. etc.
- Forget CAN-SPAM or any of its cousins now in place in countries around the world. Spam and certainly international spam volumes are on the increase.
- Spamming is still a cash cow. Apparently, so much in fact that the need for retaliation to an anti-spammers “vigilante” approach has brought this reaction.
So folks, can the vigilantism, view legislation with a skeptical eye and protect your own mail servers through good software and good email policies.
AAS
Tags: spam filter country spam countries email filter international email
The International Nature of Spam
Just today, I came across two articles lamenting “International Spam”…
- Why No One Can Beat Spam - CIO Today – April 27, 2006
"The international nature of spam is a significant challenge. It requires a complex network to fight it, and participation." Maneesha Mithal, FTC Acting Associate Director for International Consumer Protection.
Just a little bit of "GOOGLING" and the solution is a “no-brainer”…
GET BUSINESS eMAIL ONLY FROM COUNTRIES WHERE YOU DO BUSINESS.
Your have no clients in Brazil, so block all mail originating in Brazil. Your company does no business in Nigeria, block all mail originating in Nigeria.
You get the picture so why get the email?
The solution (and with full disclosure I am biased) is XE-Filter, a country-centric IP-based email filter. Simple in concept and XE-Filter works with all existing antispam products.
I don't need email from Myanmar and with XE-Filter I don't receive any.
AAS
Tags: spam filter country spam countries email filter international email
