Using The RBL
Using the Reputation Services via public DNS queries is restricted to low volume sites, which shall comply with the following rules:
Email traffic does not exceed 100,000 messages per day;
Total volume of DNS queries does not exceed 100,000 queries per day; Note: If you run a large volume site, please contact us.
rep.mailspike.net
This zone lists all IP addresses for which currently there is a reliable reputation level assigned. A query for an A record should return one result that will dictate the likelihood of an IP address being used to send spam:
Category/ Level
L5 (-5)
L4 (-4)
L3 (-3)
L2 (-2)
L1 (-1)
LHO
H1 (+1)
H2 (+2)
H3 (+3)
H4 (+4)
H5 (+5)
Description
Worst possible reputation
Very bad reputation
Bad reputation
Suspicious behavior reputation
Neutral - Probably spam
Neutral
Neutral - Probably legit
Possible legit sender
Good Reputation
Very Good Reputation
Excellent Reputation
Category/ Level
127.0.0.10
127.0.0.11
127.0.0.12
127.0.0.13
127.0.0.14
127.0.0.15
127.0.0.16
127.0.0.17
127.0.0.18
127.0.0.19
127.0.0.20
z.mailspike.net
This zone lists all IP addresses seen participating in a distributed spam wave. A query for an A record should always return 127.0.0.2 if the IP address is currently listed. Recommended action:
Block at MTA level.
bl.mailspike.net
this zone combines both the z.mailspike.net and IP addresses from rep.mailspike.net that are listed between L3 and L5. This combined zone can be used for a single DNS query to determine if messages coming from this IP address should be blocked. The DNS A record is always mapped either to 127.0.0.2 (z.mailspike.net) or the corresponding A record from rep.mailspike.net. Recommended action:
Block at MTA level.
wl.mailspike.net
this zone lists all IP addresses with good reputation levels between H2 and H5. The listed IP addresses may occasional send spam but since they originate mostly legit traffic, they should not be blocked. This list can be used as a feature when determining if a message should be considered spam or not, but it should never be used exclusively for whitelisting purposes.
Spam Assassin
Apache Foundation's SpamAssassin has the capability of assigning different scores to different rules. Combining this with the mailspike allows greater control on how much weight certain reputation levels should have, instead of having a black or white approach. Sample configuration:
Scores in the above examples may (and should) be tweaked to best fit your environment!