Free RBLS for large MailScanner deployment

[Steve Freegard]

Paulo Roncon wrote:
> I want to deploy a large Mailscanner farm, and as part of the solution I want to filter at the MTA level, using RBLS.
> what rbls do you use that are free and have few false-positives?

Large installations using free RBLs is a misnomer; if it's that large
you'll absolutely have to run a local rbldnsd installation to get the
sufficient performance and stay within rules as most lists have
'heavy-hitter' policies, so if you do > 100,000 queries then you have to
purchase a feed etc.

With SORBS potentially disappearing the only other 'free' RBL I would
recommend with few FPs would be bl.spamcop.net; I don't trust any of the
rest.

For large installations purchasing a feed from Spamhaus will save you
considerable money on hardware you would otherwise need and scalability
hassles, so is well worth factoring in to any design decisions.

Cheers,
Steve.