How do we minimize junk email? A server, somewhere in the world, is setup to receive and hold your email until you ask for it. Comcast, Gmail, Hotmail are all the same - they all use servers to accept and hold email for their users. Luckily, there is a very effective tool for the IT folks running these servers to use to reduce the amount of spam their users receive: Real-Time Blackhole Lists (RBLs).
What does an RBL do? It’s pretty simple. Consider this – a spammer (or junk emailer) needs a server to send their junk email through. All email, junk or not, has to flow through a mail server somewhere. Spammers look for servers that are setup incorrectly (incorrect meaning they allow anyone to send email through them). Ideally, servers should only allow their legitimate email users to send email through them.
So, if you accept my premise that spammers need a server to send their email for them, then you can accept my premise that, if we know which servers they use, we can merely block all email coming from those servers. This is all the RBLs do –they maintain an up-to-date list of servers that spammers are currently using.
So how does the RBL list help us? Easy – when you setup a mail server you can tell it to check with an RBL when email arrives. So, if I send you an email from questions@tseed.com, your email server will check with an RBL to see if the tseed.com server is on the list as a spammer. If it is flagged as a spam server, it will reject the email. That’s it. Millions of junk messages are rejected in this manner. It is one of the most effective ways of blocking spam.
If you have a home email account (Comcast, Hotmail, Gmail etc.) you have no control over the RBL settings. You can assume (and hope!) that your email provider is using an RBL list to filter out unwanted emails. If you’re a corporate user and have an in-house mail server like Exchange, Kerio or others, call us to help you ensure that you’re using RBLs to effectively cut down on your junk email.
Have an IT question? Email questions@tseed.com – we’re happy to help! Past Articles: tseed.blogspot.com
Kurt Simione is the owner of Technology Seed, LLC (www.TSeed.com). We provide IT Support, Business Phone System Support and Website Design to businesses across the country. 603-537-2700.
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