Email filter Email exempt list
FortiGate-50A Installation and Configuration Guide 249

Uploading an email block list

You can create a email block list in a text editor and then upload the text file to the
FortiGate unit. Add one pattern to each line of the text file. You can follow the pattern
with a space and then a 1 to enable or a zero (0) to disable the pattern. If you do not
add this information to the text file, the FortiGate unit automatically enables all
patterns that are followed with a 1 or no number when you upload the text file.
Figure 43: Example email block list text file
You can either create the email block list yourself, or add a block list created by a
third-party email blacklist service. For example, you can subscribe to the Realtime
Blackhole List service available at http://mail-abuse.org/rbl/ as a starting point for
creating your own email block list. You can upload blacklists to the FortiGate unit as
text files, with only minimal editing to remove comments at the top of each list and to
combine the lists that you want into a single file.
To upload the email block list
1In a text editor, create the list of patterns to block.
2Using the web-based manager, go to Email Filter > Block List.
3Select Upload.
4Type the path and filename of your email block list text file, or select Browse and
locate the file.
5Select OK to upload the file to the FortiGate unit.
6Select Return to display the updated email block list.
7You can continue to maintain the email block list by making changes to the text file
and uploading it again.
Email exempt list
Add address patterns to the exempt list to allow legitimate IMAP and POP3 traffic that
might otherwise be tagged by email or content blocking. For example, if the email
banned word list is set to block email that contains pornography-related words and a
reputable company sends email that contains these words, the FortiGate unit would
normally add a subject tag to the email. Adding the domain name of the reputable
company to the exempt list allows IMAP and POP3 traffic from the company to bypass
email and content blocking.
mail.badsite.com 1
suredeal.org 1
user1@badsite.com 1
Note: All changes made to the email block list using the web-based manager are lost when you
upload a new list. However, you can download your current email block list, add more patterns
to it using a text editor, and then upload the edited list to the FortiGate unit.