SURBL
Encyclopedia
SURBLs are lists of Uniform Resource Identifier
(URI) hosts, typically web site domains, that appear in unsolicited messages. SURBLs can be used to search incoming e-mail
message bodies for similar sites to help evaluate whether the messages are unsolicited. For example, ifhttp://www.buypillswithoutprescription.com is blacklisted, then e-mail messages with a message body containing this URI
may be classified as unsolicited. SURBLs differ from prior DNSBL
s, which commonly list mail sending IP addresses. SURBLs are a specific instance of the general URIBL list type. URIBL.com is a different, unrelated URIBL-type list.
SURBL.org seems to be an outfit based in Hollywood, CA. There is no information as to who owns / and or runs this outfit to the interested public. This causes reason for concern as to the legitimacy of this outfit (unknown if it can even be called a company), and if they are not arbitrary targeting individuals or small businesses in order to sell a list to providers.It has been suggested that one should contact ones email provider objecting strongly to such practices unless the provider of such list is a legitimate entity that can be contacted, as opposed to I.e. Spamhaus
that lists it's offices and contact information.
The most likely reason for the blacklisting is that messages from the Yahoo Groups referenced were gatewayed to email and reported as spam by some of Outblaze
's 40+ million mailbox users. Outblaze is a Chinese company.
Uniform Resource Identifier
In computing, a uniform resource identifier is a string of characters used to identify a name or a resource on the Internet. Such identification enables interaction with representations of the resource over a network using specific protocols...
(URI) hosts, typically web site domains, that appear in unsolicited messages. SURBLs can be used to search incoming e-mail
E-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
message bodies for similar sites to help evaluate whether the messages are unsolicited. For example, if
Uniform Resource Identifier
In computing, a uniform resource identifier is a string of characters used to identify a name or a resource on the Internet. Such identification enables interaction with representations of the resource over a network using specific protocols...
may be classified as unsolicited. SURBLs differ from prior DNSBL
DNSBL
A DNSBL is a list of IP addresses published through the Internet Domain Name Service either as a zone file that can be used by DNS server software, or as a live DNS zone that can be queried in real-time...
s, which commonly list mail sending IP addresses. SURBLs are a specific instance of the general URIBL list type. URIBL.com is a different, unrelated URIBL-type list.
Criticism
SURBL.org claims overall false positive rates between 0.001% to 0.05%. However, one list in particular, ob.surbl.org, uses not spam reports, but content analysis rules, combined with the age of the domain. Critics believe this unjustly punishes legitimate startups and SMEs, many of whom will be unaware of the problem and have their email capabilities restricted with no knowledge of how to solve the problem, or even that it is occurring.SURBL.org seems to be an outfit based in Hollywood, CA. There is no information as to who owns / and or runs this outfit to the interested public. This causes reason for concern as to the legitimacy of this outfit (unknown if it can even be called a company), and if they are not arbitrary targeting individuals or small businesses in order to sell a list to providers.It has been suggested that one should contact ones email provider objecting strongly to such practices unless the provider of such list is a legitimate entity that can be contacted, as opposed to I.e. Spamhaus
The Spamhaus Project
The Spamhaus Project is an international organisation to track e-mail spammers and spam-related activity. It is named for the anti-spam jargon term coined by Linford, spamhaus, a pseudo-German expression for an ISP or other firm which spams or willingly provides service to spammers.-Spamhaus...
that lists it's offices and contact information.
Response to Criticism
The above criticism appears to claim an internal knowledge of a blacklisting process which would probably not be visible to the critic. For example, the ob.surbl.org list does make indirect use of user reports, but with extensive filtering. The blacklisted domain was apparently quickly removed from the blacklist as result of the critic following the clearly and prominently published removal instructions. Therefore it would appear that SURBL makes a good effort to remove legitimate sites.The most likely reason for the blacklisting is that messages from the Yahoo Groups referenced were gatewayed to email and reported as spam by some of Outblaze
Outblaze
Outblaze is a technology company that develops and provides digital media products and services including smartphone games and other apps, social media applications, computer and video games, online transaction systems, and web communication software...
's 40+ million mailbox users. Outblaze is a Chinese company.
See also
- DNSBLDNSBLA DNSBL is a list of IP addresses published through the Internet Domain Name Service either as a zone file that can be used by DNS server software, or as a live DNS zone that can be queried in real-time...
, a spam prevention method in which e-mail messages are accepted or rejected depending on the IP addressIP addressAn Internet Protocol address is a numerical label assigned to each device participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing...
of the mail server from which the message is received