Spamhaus Blocklist (SBL) listings are moving

What is the SBL?

If you’re familiar with SBLs, scroll down to “Why”. However, if you’re not familiar, the SBL is a list of IP addresses that Spamhaus Project researchers have identified as malicious. By malicious, we mean they’re being observed as doing something untoward, e.g. sending spam, or snowshoe spamming, behaving like a bulletproof hosting company or hijacking IP space; in other words, they’re the sort of IP addresses you don’t want to accept email from (or anything else for that matter).

When one of our researchers makes an SBL listing for an IP or range of IP addresses, they send the network or hosting company responsible for that IP an email notification. Within this notification is a link to all the information relating to why the IP, or range, has been listed on the SBL.

Until now, the SBL listings have resided on the Spamhaus Project website. But for a number of reasons this is about to change. We have taken away all the current listing information from our main site www.spamhaus.org and moved them to a separate dedicated site.

Why?

Have you visited www.spamhaus.org recently? It doesn’t possess the most up-to-date user interface one encounters in 2024. While it may be familiar to many, and perhaps comfortingly so, it is in need of a revamp. So, a rebuild is in progress (spoiler alert... due to go live within the next few months). Meanwhile, the Spamhaus IP and domain reputation checker - let’s call this the “Checker” - launched a couple of years ago, provides the perfect place for SBL listings to reside permanently. Therefore, it makes sense to relocate the SBL listings to this tool. This way, all IP and domain reputation information can be found in one place. Additionally, if your IP address also has listings on other datasets, such as the XBL Exploits blocklist, you can view these at the same time.

How will I access my SBL listings?

In exactly the same way you do now - Spamhaus Project researchers will email you an SBL listing notification email. However, it will include a URL starting with https://check.spamhaus.org/ to view the SBL listing details on the Checker.

Alternatively, you can use the SBL ticket number to search for the listing in the Checker directly.

Can I still access aggregated SBL listings for my network? Yes! Each abuse desk notification will include a URL to a page on the Checker with all SBL listings associated with that network. To go directly to the page, you can use the following URL format: check.spamhaus.org/listed/[networkname.com]

My email bounced. How do I see if there is an associated SBL listing?

For senders who receive bounced email messages (mail rejections) with an associated SBL listing, a URL is included to view more details. This URL will also navigate to the Checker rather than The Spamhaus Project website.

Is there a timeline for the changes?

The relocation of the SBL listings to the Spamhaus IP and Domain Reputation Checker is expected to take place beginning to mid-February 2024.

Any questions?

Feel free to reach out to us via Linkedin, X or Mastodon.