“SORBS has an extended and considerably checkered historical past. It was created within the early 2000s, with a DNSBL (Area Title System-based Blackhole Record) model coming on-line in January 2002,” Chandler wrote. “The closure of SORBS doesn’t mark any actual turning level within the e mail safety panorama. Though it was one of many oldest DNSBL companies, SORBS helped primarily hobbyist e mail directors filter spam and different malicious e mail site visitors. Nevertheless, its controversial historical past and administration points have made it a supply of frustration for a lot of within the business and depressed its total use. SORBS listings haven’t been thought of impactful within the e mail advertising and marketing house for a few years. A current consulting consumer noticed fewer than 200 messages blocked over a quantity of lower than 1,000,000.”
Different methods to filter spam
Girish Bhat, a safety advertising and marketing govt who labored for Proofpoint when SORBS was acquired, mentioned the choices had been influenced by enterprise dynamics and the issue in making such an inventory worthwhile.
“For a excessive development enterprise like Proofpoint, monetization would have required important funding, and the ROI was unclear. I imagine that the e-mail business wouldn’t have gotten right here with out DNSBL companies resembling Spamhaus, SpamCop, SORBS and others. As most of those companies originated and are managed by a devoted particular person or people with robust opinions, it’s prone to alienate a couple of,” Bhat mentioned. “To Proofpoint’s credit score, even after the SORBS acquisition, they didn’t intervene with its day-to-day operations. Discussions round monetizing SORBS had been deserted shortly. Though SORBS was a pioneer and did serve an vital group position up to now, its utility has diminished on account of a plethora of different companies.”