Blacklist Lookup

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About Blacklist Lookup

Check to see if any IP address or an email server IP is blacklisted or not with over fifty plus DNS-based blacklists (DNSBLs). It helps to identify IP reputation and email spam.

What blacklisting an IP address means?

The tool checks whether the given URL, IP address, or email server's IP is listed with DNSBL. Email system providers utilize that database to filter out spam emails before they finally reach the end-users.

For example, if your company uses email marketing and you send out thousands of emails to promote your new product, some of the receivers mark that email as spam. There is a high chance that your IP will be on the IP blacklist, which needs to be avoided.

IP address blacklisting is the process or method to filter out or block the illegitimate or malicious IP addresses to access your network. It occurs when a web hosting company ultimately ignores your IP address. More precisely, any email you try to send is consequently blocked and filtered as spam.

One estimate concludes that email traffic consists of 80% of spam emails. That overwhelming amount of commercial emails lead to strict blacklisting practices to keep the inboxes spam-free.

What is a DNSBL?

DNSBL stands for Domain Name System Blacklist, is the blacklist that allows the administrator to block the messages from specific IP that has a history of sending spam messages. The list is based on Internet's Domain Name System, which converts the IP address into the domain name, and makes it much easier to understand.

Suppose a maintainer of a blacklist in the past has received any spam from a specific domain. It would include that server in its blacklist. All the messages sent from that particular server would either be rejected/flagged by all the websites that use that blacklist to avoid spam. DNSBL is the first line of defense.

There are dozens of DNSBLs available online, and each one has its own set of rules and offensive categories to focus on. The most common nasty type is spam, but some blacklists focus more on hacking, malware, botnets, etc. The email administrators use these DNSBLs to check if the incoming email is generated or originated from the blacklisted IP address or not.

What is SURBL?

SURBL is a list of websites that have appeared in unsolicited messages. It is the second line of defense, but not all the spam filters can use it.

With time the spammers become pretty intelligent, and there is no proper way to catch every spam message. The email administrators use the SURBLs to scan the email messages' body text to extract any website address present and check it against the blacklists. If found any address, the message would be treated either as spam or handled accordingly as per the instructions.

Note: It is interesting to note that the websites in unsolicited messages are consistently used than the rapidly changing botnet IP addresses used to send the vast majority of them. If you are from an email marketing company, running an email advertisement, or from an email system administrator and your IP has been blacklisted, then you have to work with various DNSBLs and SURBLs to delist your IP address.

How an IP blacklist integrates with an Email service?

The process is simple.

Suppose you send an email from marketing@xyz.com to some user Mike.
Mike's mail server will determine the sender's IP address and resolve it into the domain name.
Mike's mail server checks both the domain and the sender's IP address in the IP/domain blacklist database.
If the IP or domain is blacklisted, your email will most likely land in Mike's spam/junk mail folder without the message being scanned.
If the IP or domain is already in the repetitive spam sender list, the ISP's spam filters will reject its message, meaning it won't even reach Mike's spam folder.

Why is my IP address blacklisted?

A blacklist is a database of IP addresses that are believed to send spam. Emails from these IP addresses are either blocked or routed to the recipient's spam folder or handled accordingly.

Your IP may be in a single blacklist or multiple backlists. There is no centralized authority for that. Each blacklist is managed independently, and each has its criteria for listing or delisting the IP address in its blacklist.

There are several reasons that your IP is on the blacklist.

The main reasons for IP blacklisting are the virus, malware, and sending many spam emails.
If you run a mail server that is not configured correctly, which results in sending spam, or you intentionally send spam, then definitely your IP address becomes blacklisted.
Maybe you tried to purchase the email lists from a third party containing many incorrect or spam email addresses.
The majority of the email receivers mark your email as spam.
Someone hacked your email account and using it for spammy activities.
There is also a scenario that your IP is on the blacklist; even you did not do anything wrong. That frequently happens when having a DHCP IP address. Most of the blacklist maintainer automatically adds the IP address that is assigned via DHCP by ISP. Even though you are not a spammer, maybe the person who had your IP address before you, using it for spamming activity. Only your ISP knows who had that IP address before assigning it to you.
Your website can even be listed on a search engine's blacklist, and no legitimate website wants this. Several reasons can play a role in this regard.
- If your website is spammy or maybe, you are getting backlinks from spammy websites.
- Your website is suspected of being used for hacking purposes.
- Once the website is added to the search engine's blacklist, it will vanish from the internet.

How to use the IP Blacklist, Email Blacklist, Domain Blacklist Check to check your IP status or perform the IP blacklist lookup?

Several online tools and websites are free and check that the given URL, IP address, or email server IP is consequently listed with DNSBL or SURBL systems.

To check your IP status or perform the IP blacklist lookup.
Open the IP Blacklist & Email Blacklist Check Tool.
Enter the URL, IP address, or the email server IP address whose status you want to check.
Click on the "Submit" button.
The tool will take 20 to 40 seconds to perform the IP blacklist lookup and provide you the results.
If your IP is listed in the particular blacklist, it will show "Yes" in front of that blacklist or vice-versa.

Note: We do not manage, run, or have any direct affiliation with any blacklist. We are only providing a single platform to check an IP address's status on third-party blacklists. We do not recommend using any specific blacklist and do not condone blacklists that require payment for removal. The inclusion of such blacklists is for completeness and should not support that blacklist's usage.

How do you get off the blacklist, or what to do if your IP is blacklisted?

To get off the blacklist or to clear your name from being blacklisted, first, you must check that your system is clean from any virus or malware and no unauthorized traffic is going out from your system. Find out where your IP is blacklisted and contact them.
Investigate why they entered your IP address in their blacklist. The majority of the blacklist provides general listing reasons. You must check each of them.
The majority of the blacklist allows you to submit the removal request. Each blacklist has a different way to raise the removal request.
Submitting the removal request is an attempt from your end. It does not mean that the Blacklist maintainer will honor your request.

What if my IP address remains on a blacklist?

The most common reason that your IP address keeps getting blacklisted is that your IP address has been reported and consequently blacklisted for sending spam emails.
If you are a home user, having your IP address on the blacklist would not make much difference.
However, if you are running a business or having a mail server, you must delist your IP address. Check your system if it is clean from any virus or malware or your mail server is configured correctly.

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