tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685203.post4617248662720324866..comments2023-09-30T06:30:45.864-04:00Comments on Andy's House O' Blog: Blocked Senders List, a story of pain.....Andy Donaldsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14295083854547806440noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685203.post-57307206094931474922012-12-13T14:04:50.531-05:002012-12-13T14:04:50.531-05:00I ran into the same issue, opened a pmr and IBM re...I ran into the same issue, opened a pmr and IBM replied that this is not intended to be a primary spam blocker, thus the 32K limit. A co-worker came up with an agent to extract all the address to an excel spreadsheet where you can copy/paste each individual blocked address to your primary spam blocker software. We use Proofpoint at our company.<br /><br />Here is a utility that can be used to export the Blocked Senders List from a user's mailbox to a text file which can be used to copy & paste entries into the ProofPoint personal account ==> The resulting text file is saved on your local NotesData folder under the default name of UserName_blocked . Please do not delete the existing document in the database, the agent needs to have a document in the database to run.<br />==================================<br />Here is the code for it(test before using):<br />%REM<br /> Agent ExportBlockSendersList<br /> Created Feb 22, 2012 by Albert Nguyen<br /> Description: Comments for Agent<br /> <br />%END REM<br />Option Public<br /><br />Option Declare<br /><br />Sub Initialize<br /><br />Dim s As NotesSession<br />Dim ws As NotesUIWorkspace<br />Dim mailDb As NotesDatabase<br />Dim profile As NotesDocument<br />Dim dbName As Variant<br />Dim dbServerName As String<br />Dim dbFileName As String<br />Dim blockedArray As Variant<br />Set s = New NotesSession<br />Set ws = New NotesUIWorkspace<br /><br />dbName = ws.Prompt(13, "Select Mail Database", "Select the database to extract a blocked senders list from")<br />If IsEmpty(dbName) Then<br />MessageBox "No database selected; agent quitting."<br />Exit Sub<br />End If<br />dbServerName = dbName(0)<br />dbFileName = dbName(1)<br />Set mailDB = s.GetDatabase(dbServerName, dbFileName)<br />If Not mailDb.IsOpen Then<br />Call mailDb.Open("", "")<br />End If<br />Set profile = mailDb.GetProfileDocument("CalendarProfile")<br />If profile.HasItem("$Filter_BlockAddressList") Then<br />blockedArray = profile.GetItemValue("$Filter_BlockAddressList")<br />If (UBound(blockedArray) = 0) And (blockedArray(0) = "") Then<br />MessageBox "No blocked addresses for this database."<br />Exit Sub<br />End If<br />Dim ownerName As NotesName, ownerFilePart As String<br />Set ownerName = s.CreateName(profile.GetItemValue("Owner")(0))<br />ownerFilePart = Join(Split(ownerName.Abbreviated, "/"), "_")<br />Dim filePath As Variant<br />filePath = ws.SaveFileDialog(False, "Save Blocked Senders List As", "Text Files|*.txt",,ownerFilePart + "_blocked.txt")<br />If IsEmpty(filePath) Then<br />MessageBox "No filename selected; agent quitting."<br />Exit Sub<br />Else<br />filePath = filePath(0) 'converts single-element array to string<br />Dim fileNum As Integer<br />fileNum = FreeFile<br />Open filePath For Output As fileNum<br />ForAll blocked In blockedArray<br />Write #fileNum, blocked<br />End ForAll<br />Close fileNum<br />End If<br />Else<br />MessageBox "No blocked addresses for this database."<br />End If<br /> <br />End Sub<br />===================================Hope this help.paul nguyennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685203.post-34290346572644017432011-01-05T11:38:46.208-05:002011-01-05T11:38:46.208-05:00IMHO: It's time to wean your users from using...IMHO: It's time to wean your users from using the lists. The only thing Domino's user-maintained block lists are really effective at is blocking non-spam (i.e., mailing lists that someone really did sign up for) that the users don't want to receive any more; and frankly, blocking this traffic instead of properly unsubscribing from the lists is not appropriate. The block list should be reserved for the cases where a legitimately subscribed-to mailing list's unsubscribe feature is broken. For the vast majority of actual spam, block lists are ineffective for blocking further messages, just deleting whatever does get past your boundary solution wastes less of the users' time. Sure, there's a small psychological boost from the perception of "doing something about it", but unless your boundary solution is integrated with the block lists that's all it amounts to. Does your boundary solution have a mechanism for users to report spam? If so, that would be a better way to give them that psychological boost, because it really might help.Richard Schwartzhttp://www.poweroftheschwartz.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685203.post-1207688358286355562011-01-05T11:21:52.228-05:002011-01-05T11:21:52.228-05:00While the "Block Senders" feature does a...While the "Block Senders" feature does actually block email from the listed senders, it has been my experience that it is rather useless for blocking actual spam. this is because most spam never comes form the same email address twice. Thus, users add name after name to their 'block senders' list, but because they never get email from that same name again, the list entry is useless.<br /><br />A better solution is to use a public RBL, and server blacklists, to block the majority of spam. I've found this to be block the VAST majority of spam, as it blocks the servers and sources.<br /><br />After that, have users report repeat offenders. You can assist them in legitimate unsubscribes, or block IP/domains at the connection or server level (server blacklists). The other benefit of using RBLs to prevent the initial connection is that the message never enters your system, reducing the bandwidth waste and diskspace waste.<br /><br />User Sender Block Lists are helpful when there is a legitimate sender (vendor, report system, newsletter) that is useful to some users, but not others, but that for whatever reason the user cannot unsubscribe from. User Mail Rules are also useful in those instances. But because actual spam never comes from legitimate users, it never comes from the same user twice. Additionally, the wordage and other attributes are constantly changing. Therefore the options available to the end user (block sender, mail rules) are ineffective at best, and time wasting at worst.Maria Helmhttp://www.mariahelm.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685203.post-68633381897130748212011-01-05T11:04:12.059-05:002011-01-05T11:04:12.059-05:00Great information. But once you have the list how ...Great information. But once you have the list how do you remove entries?David Schafferhttp://bloginprogress.usnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685203.post-57523482394051460192011-01-04T21:31:27.966-05:002011-01-04T21:31:27.966-05:00I was thinking about the server side rule, but wit...I was thinking about the server side rule, but with 1113 entries....<br />I'm going to beat up my spam vendor for now. Create a rule on the appliance, off load all those entries and then let him start fresh.Andy Donaldsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14295083854547806440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685203.post-11931685977966039842011-01-04T21:24:11.277-05:002011-01-04T21:24:11.277-05:00Andy, Versions having different configs and limita...Andy, Versions having different configs and limitations aside.<br />Could you not create a server side entry for these? Or set up a mail rule with a bunch of them?<br />What about changing his email address and setting up an agent to match people in his pnab to allow pass through. And have him treat the old email like a spam folder, check it every now and then, just in case?<br />Just thinking out loud.Keith Brookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11107190540208956954noreply@blogger.com