What is TechTheft Web Blacklist?
The TechTheft Web Blacklist is a private DNS-based blacklist (DNSBL) that lists IP addresses involved in network abuse. According to the operators, a listing occurs when a network abuse complaint has been made and remains unresolved. This blocklist is not available for public use; it is an internal list provided to a select group of subscribers by invitation only. Their policy states that they list anything on the internet that interacts with their spam or attack traps.
TechTheft Web Blacklist lists a wide range of internet resources, including:
- Email sources
- DNS nameservers
- Network IP blocks
- Website hosts
- Email servers
- Virus infected machines
- Web crawling spiders and agents
The project does not accept public nominations to its main blacklist, but may review information posted to certain Usenet groups for inclusion in manual zones.
Who runs TechTheft Web Blacklist?
TechTheft Web Blacklist is operated by an organization named TechTheft. They describe their mission as a fight against "Hi-Technology Theft", which includes spam, viral attacks, and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. The group believes the solution to online abuse is to cut it off at the source, referring to their approach as an "Internet Death Penalty" against sources and supporters of such malicious activities. They state that simply filtering abuse is not enough; it must be prevented and stopped by blocking offending communications at their origin.
How do I get removed and delisted from TechTheft Web Blacklist?
The delisting process from this particular blacklist (or blocklist) is based on resolving active complaints. There is no public, self-service removal form. Instead, you must first address the underlying issues that led to the listing.
Before a delisting will be processed, you must:
- Set up and maintain an abuse contact. Ensure an 'abuse@yourdomain.com' email address is active for your domain and the domain associated with your IP address.
- Resolve complaints. You must act quickly on any and all complaints sent to your abuse contact. According to TechTheft, the listing will be removed automatically once all active complaints are resolved.
If your IP is listed as 127.0.1.*, TechTheft states the issues have been published in news.admin.net-abuse.* Usenet groups. You would need to search those group archives to find the reason for your listing.
What's the impact of being listed on TechTheft Web Blacklist?
The impact of being listed on the TechTheft Web Blacklist is generally low. This is because the blocklist is private and only available to a small, invitation-only group of subscribers. Unlike major public blacklists that are used by thousands of mail servers worldwide, the limited distribution of this list means it will not have a widespread effect on your email deliverability. While a listing should still be investigated, it is unlikely to be the cause of large-scale email delivery problems.
Other TechTheft Web Blacklist blocklists