SwiftBL Support Documents

The following documents have been compiled in order to provide you with as much information and support as possible. Although the majority of this information is about our DNSBL service, we have also provided support for other general security-related issues.

General frequently asked questions

What is a proxy?

Proxy software enables multiple computers to share the same internet connection. Secure proxy software will only allow computers connected to the same local network as itself to connect through it (or if they authenticate themselves), however insecure proxies have the potential to allow anyone, regardless of their location or network, to use them. This allows people to use proxies to evade bans, spam or even form their own 'proxy botnet'. More information regarding proxies can be found here

How do you find IPs to add to the blacklist?

The majority of the IPs listed in our blacklist have been used to coordinate attacks against our own IRC network which itself is very often the target of large scale proxy attacks. A large percentage of the IPs listed also originate from our own proxyscanners which are set to scan both common & uncommon ports.

Can I suggest IPs which should be added?

At this moment in time it is not possible for us to accept 'recommendations' on IPs which should be blacklisted. Letting people add IPs to the blacklist could potentially lead to heavy abuse of the system. In the future, however, we plan to allow IRC network to send proxies they scan on their network via BOPM's dnsbl_to feature.

Who is running the blacklist?

A select group of staff members from the SwiftIRC network are currently running and managing the DNSBL. The network is very often the subject to attacks by proxies and botnets and by running this blacklist we hope to deter those behind them from attacking both other networks, but also our own at the same time.

Why am I listed if my machine is secure?

Due to the dynamic nature of many ISPs' IPs it can be quite common for an IP of an unsecure machine to be added to the blacklist, and then several days later that IP switch to a different and secure machine. Without knowing which IPs are dynamic, and for how long they remain on the same connection it is impossible for us to remove dynamic IPs on a regular basis.

Will your blacklist stop all attacks against my network?

As with all methods of preventing attacks against networks, our blacklist is not completely full-proof. Although we have a large number of abusable IPs in our database there will still be those that are used to attack your network which are not listed. In order to reduce the risk to your network we suggest using our blacklist in conjunction with several others (we recommend DroneBL), and along with your own proxy scanner.