Spam Control Lists and Internationalized Spam

In the Spam Control section of the Zoho Mail Admin Console, you will have the option to allow or block email addresses, domains, IP addresses, etc. Additionally, you can also add trusted lists for certain domains and email addresses to skip any spam processing when you receive emails from these addresses. 

Further, you can define specific countries and languages from which you can allow or reject emails. 

Allowed List

As an administrator, if you do not want certain emails to be marked as spam, you can add the domain, specific email addresses or IP addresses to the Allowed List. However, in case there is an SPF failure, and there is no action set for SPF failure, the emails from allowed list domains or addresses will not be marked as 'Not Spam'. In the case of SPF failure, the email may be a possible spoofed email, and hence the email address/ IP address/ domain added to the allowed list will not be effective in that case.

Follow the below instructions to navigate to the Allowed List section:

1. Login to the Zoho Mail Admin Console.
2. Go to the Security & Compliance menu.
3. Select Spam Control, and select Allowed List. Select the preferred tab to configure allowed lists:
   • Emails
   • Domains
   • IP Addresses
   • Allowed URL Domains

Allowed Email Addresses

To skip the spam control checks for specific email addresses, follow these steps in the Emails tab:

1. Navigate to the Emails tab and click on Add to enter the email addresses.
2. You can add multiple email addresses by separating them with commas.
3. Finally, click Add Email Address.
4. Alternatively, you can also import email addresses by clicking on Import.
5. Click Browse CSV Files, and select the file containing the email addresses.
6. The email addresses in the CSV file will get added to the allowed list.

Allowed Domains

To skip the spam control checks for specific emails originating from specific domains, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the Domains tab and click on Add.
2. You can add multiple domains by separating them with commas.
3. Finally, click Add.
4. Alternatively, you can also import domains by clicking on Import.
5. Click Browse CSV Files, and select the file containing the domain names.
6. The domain names in the CSV file will get added to the allowed list.

Allowed IP Addresses

To allow emails from a certain IP address range, select the IP Addresses tab and follow these steps:

1. Click on Add to enter the IP addresses.
2. Enter the IP addresses and select the IP mask, depending on the IP range that you'd like to add. Click here to know more about IP masks.
3. Finally, click Add IP Address.
4. Alternatively, you can also import IP addresses by clicking on Import.
5. Click Browse CSV Files, and select the file containing the IP addresses.
6. The IP addresses in the CSV file will get added to the allowed list.

Allowed URL Domains

If the content of an email has potentially unsafe URLs, opening such links can lead to unauthenticated access to your organization's data. Zoho Mail's Unsafe link alerts feature provides timely alerts to users whenever they click on an unsafe link inside an email. As an administrator, if you trust a domain's URL, you can add them to the Allowed URL Domains tab in Allowed List. When users click a domain URL that is added to the Allowed URL Domains, the unsafe link alert validations will not be performed. Navigate to the Allowed URL Domains tab and follow these steps:

1. Click Add and enter the domains by separating them with commas.
2. Click the Add Domain button.
3. Alternatively, you can also import domains by clicking on Import.
4. Click Browse CSV Files, and select the file containing the domain names.
5. The domain names in the CSV file will get added to the allowed list.

Blocked List

A blocked list can also be defined commonly for the entire organization. The administrators can add entire domains, TLDs, specific email addresses, IP addresses, or recipient email addresses to the blocked list. In these cases, even if the domain passes the SPF test, the email from that domain will be marked as spam.

Additionally, while defining the blocked list, the admin can also choose the action to be taken on the blocked emails. They can either:

• Mark it as spam - The email will be moved to the respective user's spam folder.
• Move it to quarantine - The email will be quarantined from where the admin will have to process the email further.
• Reject the email - The email will be permanently rejected.

Follow the below instructions to access the Blocked List for your organization:

1. Log in to the Zoho Mail Admin Console and select Security & Compliance on the left menu.
2. Navigate to Spam Control, and select Blocked List. Select the preferred tab to configure the blocked list:
   • Emails
   • Domains
   • IP Addresses
   • TLDs
   • Recipient Recipients
   • Blocked URL Domains

Blocked Email Addresses

To add specific email addresses to the blocked list, follow these steps:

1. Click Add in the Emails tab and add one or more email addresses by separating them with commas.
2. Select the action to be taken on these emails.
3. Click Add Email Address.
4. Alternatively, you can also import email addresses by clicking on Import. Select the action to be taken on these emails.
5. Click Browse CSV Files, and select the file containing the email addresses. The email addresses in the CSV file will get added to the blocked list.

Blocked Domains

To add one or more domains to the blocked list, select the Domains tab and follow these steps:

1. Click Add to enter the domain names. You can add multiple domains by separating them with commas.
2. Select the action to be taken on these emails.
3. Click Add Domain.
4. Alternatively, you can also import domains by clicking on Import. Select the action to be taken on these emails.
5. Click Browse CSV Files, and select the file containing the domain names.  The domain names in the CSV file will get added to the blocked list.

Blocked IP Addresses

To block emails from a certain IP address range, select the IP Addresses tab and follow the below instructions:

1. Click on Add to enter the IP addresses.
2. Enter the IP addresses and select the IP mask, depending on the IP range that you'd like to add. Click here to know more about IP masks.
3. Select the action to be taken on these emails.
4. Click Add IP Address.
5. Alternatively, you can also import IP addresses by clicking on Import. Select the action to be taken on these emails.
6. Click Browse CSV Files, and select the file containing the IP addresses. 
7. The IP addresses in the CSV file will get added to the blocked list.

Blocked TLD List

​A Top-level Domain (TLD) is the last segment of a domain name. For example, in the domain name zylker.com, .com is the TLD. To block a TLD, select the TLDs tab and follow these steps:

1. Click on Add to enter the TLD. You can add multiple TLDs by separating them with commas.
2. Select the action to be taken on these emails.
3. Click Add TLDs.
4. Alternatively, you can also import TLDs by clicking on Import. Select the action to be taken on these emails.
5. Click Browse CSV Files, and select the file containing the TLDs. The TLDs in the CSV file will get added to the blocked list.

Blocked Recipient List

If you want to block emails addressed to certain members of your organization, select the Recipient Emails tab and follow these steps:​

1. Click on Add to enter the email address.
2. You can add multiple emails by separating them with commas.
3. Select the action to be taken on these emails.
4. Click Add Recipient Email Address.
5. Alternatively, you can also import recipient email addresses by clicking on Import. Select the action to be taken on these emails.
6. Click Browse CSV Files, and select the file containing the email addresses. The email addresses in the CSV file will get added to the blocked list.

Blocked URL Domains

Administrators can add certain domains to the blocked list if they suspect that the URLs from those domains can be harmful to their organization's data. Once a domain is added to the Blocked URL Domains list, a warning pop-up appears whenever users click a link from the email content. Navigate to the Blocked URL Domains tab and follow these steps:

1. Click Add and enter the domains by separating them with commas.
2. Click the Add Domain button.
3. Alternatively, you can also import domains by clicking on Import.
4. Click Browse CSV Files, and select the file containing the domain names. The domain names in the CSV file will get added to the blocked list.

Blocked List Patterns

Blocked List Patterns in the Admin console will allow the administrator to add the usual patterns in which the spam emails get delivered to the users in the organization. The patterns that can be added are:

• Sender pattern
• Subject pattern
• Content pattern

Sender Pattern

You can add texts or regular expression patterns to this list to make sure that the emails containing these patterns in the sender email address are marked as spam. You can set the Email delivery action to mark the email as spam or move the emails to quarantine.

To configure a pattern click on Add and provide any text/ regex as the pattern value. You can set an expiry date for the pattern. You can also choose to add the pattern as a regular expression. Click Add to save the pattern.

You can also Edit/ Delete a pattern using the icons provided over the saved patterns.

Subject Pattern

You can add text or regular expression patterns to this list to make sure that the emails containing these patterns in the subject of the email are marked as spam. You can set the Email delivery action to mark the email as spam or move the emails to quarantine.

To configure a pattern click on Add and provide any text/ regex as the pattern value. You can set an expiry date for the pattern. You can also choose to add the pattern as a regular expression. Click Add to save the pattern.

You can also Edit/ Delete a pattern using the icons provided over the saved patterns.

Content Pattern

You can add text or regular expression patterns to this list to make sure that the emails containing these patterns in the content of the email are marked as spam. You can set the Email delivery action to mark the email as spam or move the emails to quarantine. You also have the option to Mark blank emails as spam.

To configure a pattern click on Add and provide any text/ regex as the pattern value. You can set an expiry date for the pattern. You can also choose to add the pattern as a regular expression. Click Add to save the pattern.

You can also Edit/ Delete a pattern using the icons provided over the saved patterns.
​

Trusted List

The trusted list is where you can add any email addresses, domains, or IP addresses that you want to exclude from any spam processing. None of the usual spam checks will be conducted on emails that are received from the entities added in the trusted list and they will not be validated for SPF, DKIM, or block list checks. While adding values to the trusted list, be doubly cautious since the organization could be exposed to spam or phishing attacks, as there is no spam check.

Follow the below instructions to define the trusted list for your organization:

1. Login to the Zoho Mail Admin Console
2. Go to the Security & Compliance menu.
3. Select Spam Control, and select Trusted List. You will land in the Emails tab.
4. To add specific email addresses to the trusted list, do these steps:
   1. Click on Add to enter the email addresses.
   2. You can add multiple email addresses by separating them with commas.
   3. Finally, click Add Email Address.
   4. Alternatively, you can also import email addresses by clicking on Import.
   5. Click Browse CSV Files, and select the file containing the email addresses.
   6. The email addresses in the CSV file will get added to the trusted list.
5. To add one or more domains to the trusted list, click on the ​Domains tab and do these steps:
   1. Click on Add to enter the domain names.
   2. You can add multiple domains by separating them with commas.
   3. Finally, click Add.
   4. Alternatively, you can also import domains by clicking on Import.
   5. Click Browse CSV Files, and select the file containing the domain names.
   6. The domain names in the CSV file will get added to the trusted list.

Internationalized Spam (Language/Location-based Spam):

Language-based spam:

You can allow or reject mails based on the language of the email. You can set the languages according to your preference in the Zoho Mail Control Panel.

Follow the below steps to add languages:

1. Login to the Zoho Mail Admin Console
2. Go to the Security & Compliance menu.
3. Select Spam Control, go to Internationalized Spam. You will land in the Language tab.
4. Select the action that you'd like to take in the Spam Processing Action field. You can either Allow or Block the chosen languages. 
5. Click on Add and select the languages, and finally click Apply.

Based on the preferences set, emails in the languages that you've entered will either be blocked or allowed.

Country-based spam:

Based on the location of the origin of emails, you can either reject the email, mark it as spam or move it to the quarantine list.

Follow the below steps to add locations:

1. Login to the Zoho Mail Admin Console
2. Go to the Security & Compliance menu.
3. Select Spam Control, go to Internationalized Spam, and select the Country tab.
4. Click on Add.
5. Select the countries, and choose the respective action that you'd like to take on emails from these countries.
6. You can either mark the emails as spam, move it to quarantine or reject it.

Emails from the respective countries will be processed according to the preferences that you have set.