If you need to ask for the removal of an IP address from any of
the SORBS databases, please use the
SORBS Support System.
Users of dynamically assigned IP addresses, please note that
SORBS is not identifying you as a spammer. SORBS is
identifying you as a dynamic IP address user, nothing more,
nothing less.
The DNS based list (DNSbl) is free to use as people see fit.
However, please be aware that as users of SORBS, what gets
blocked is ultimately your responsibility - SORBS just provides
a list. Details of the lists and how to use them are on the
Using SORBS page.
Introduction and a bit of history
The Spam and Open Relay Blocking System (SORBS) was
conceived as an anti-spam project where a daemon would check
"on-the-fly", all servers from which it received email to
determine if that email was sent via various types of proxy
and open-relay servers. The daemon was not particularly well
written and served as a lesson in programming for its original
author, Matthew Sullivan.
The daemon still exists and works, though with the latest
computer piracy by spammers being hijacking by way of trojans,
there are not many servers stopped. If you are interested in
the daemon it is available for download and use at:
http://www.dnsbl.au.sorbs.net/sorbs/.
However, during November 2001, the daemon was deployed
alongside a number of prominent mailservers that received
around 1 million emails per day. The result was a database of
approximately 78,000 proxy servers collected over a 2 month
period.
The SORBS DNSBL was born in November 2002. It was felt that by
publicising a list of compromised hosts, the ever-increasing
flow of spam through those hosts could be stopped. On January
6, 2003, the SORBS DNSBL was officially launched to the public.
Since those initial 78,000 proxies, the SORBS DNSBL has grown
to an astounding 3 million listed hosts (that's less than
0.07% of the possible addresses on the internet - statistics
correct as of June 2004). SORBS has also expanded over time to
include hacked and hijacked servers, formmail scripts, trojan
infestations (particularly those with backdoors), and more
recently made the move to pre-emptively list all dynamically
allocated IP address space.
Other recent innovations are the SORBS spam firewall, which is
in testing, and will be released as soon as SORBS Technologies
Pty Ltd completes testing and develops a market strategy
(we'll keep you posted there). Also, SORBS provides its lists
for groups such as Team
Cymru DarkNet Project and the
Australian Communications and
Media Authority, with a view to listing and shutting down
as many infected/trojaned machines as possible.
If anyone would like to contribute to SORBS or has any
suggestions for new detection routines, and/or hosts to be
listed, the SORBS team would love to hear from you. Please use
the Mail/Contact Form to get in
touch and discuss your thoughts.
Note: SORBS Technologies Pty Ltd is not part of,
nor does it have control over, SORBS listings. We are two
independent companies whose names both include the word
"SORBS".
Important: SORBS' definition of spam
Please Note: What follows is SORBS' definition of spam.
SORBS considers Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE) to be spam.
SORBS considers Unsolicited Bulk Email (UBE) to be spam.
SORBS does not consider any solicited email to
be spam.
SORBS does not consider Unsolicited Email that is not
Commercial or Bulk to be spam.
This means that advertising messages as part of a so-called
"opt-in mailing" list will be classified as spam if they are
received before a non-repudiatable confirmation of that
opt-in, sent by the true owner of that address, has been
received by the management of that mailing list.
Further, if the opt-in confirmation request appears to be an
advertisement for products and services other than the mailing
list itself, it will also be considered spam.
Good additional reading on proper mailing list management is
provided by
Spamhaus
as well as MAPS.
Need Help...? Why are you here...?
You may have reached this site by an email "bounce" referral,
by choice, or out of sheer frustration with the amount of spam
you receive.
If you are here by choice, please have a good look around, and
read all about which databases will give what kind of results.
By far, the most complaints we see occur when people choose to
use SORBS databases inappropriately. We endeavour to ensure
all information provided is accurate and correct. However, the
Internet consists of four billion (232) IP
addresses, and it is inevitable that from time to time,
mistakes will happen. If you cannot afford any mistakes,
please do not use the SORBS lists for blocking email to your
system. Nevertheless, it can be very effective as part of a
scoring system.
If you are here due to a referral, you should visit the
Database Lookup Page or use the
Support System to find out why
the IP address involved is listed and how to have it delisted.
Please remember that SORBS provides a number of lists that may
be used for a variety of things, not just email blocking. It is
the responsibility of the owner of the server using SORBS to
decide how they will use the data provided by SORBS.
Don't understand what this is all about? Need help? Please use
the SORBS Support System.
Notes
Before you complain to SORBS or anyone else please read the
following:
SORBS consists of a group of companies as a private venture.
SORBS lists are used by their creators to block spam (and on
occasion, unfortunately, real email) to SORBS itself and other
domains where the SORBS administrators are in charge of
running the email systems. These lists of hosts and netblocks
are also provided to the public to use as they see fit.
If your mail to a domain that is not directly operated by
SORBS was blocked due to the sending IP address being listed
on SORBS, please remember that the owners of that domain have
voluntarily made the choice to use SORBS data for spam
blocking. SORBS provides that data to anybody who wants it.
SORBS is unable to force anybody to use it, and definitely does
not even want to do so. Your mail has not passed through
SORBS at any stage. SORBS cannot intercept your email and does
not wish to do so.
No other external organisations can either control or alter
SORBS. No other organisations have any influence over what is
listed in SORBS. This includes, but is not limited to, the
following people, companies and organisations:
Contacting and harassing the above people/companies will not
get a SORBS listing removed. In fact, in most cases, the SORBS
admins will not even hear about your complaint.
