Bastion — Building out your abuse desk
You know what needs to be built. The gap between where your abuse program is and where it needs to be is not something a document closes.
Complaint handling workflows, acceptable use enforcement, blocklist operator relationships, FBL management, escalation procedures: these require decisions, coordination, and someone who has done this before to drive the work while your team is doing everything else.
Most ESPs build their abuse programs reactively and under pressure. The shared mailbox becomes a queue. The queue becomes a backlog. The backlog becomes a blocklist conversation you were not prepared for. Building the program deliberately, with a lead who knows how the pieces connect, produces something that holds up and prevents uncomfortable conversations.
What it is
A 90-day engagement to build or substantially rebuild your ESP’s abuse program, with me operating as a fractional abuse program lead throughout. This is not an outside consultant handing over a document. I am actively involved in process design, policy development, external relationship establishment, and the operational decisions your team is making while the build is underway.
The engagement covers complaint handling workflow design and documentation, feedback loop enrollment and management, acceptable use policy structure and enforcement framework, blocklist operator relationship development and response procedures, sender monitoring and escalation protocols, and staff orientation to the program as it is built.
Month-to-month continuation is available after the initial 90 days for organizations that want ongoing fractional involvement through stabilization or into steady-state operations.
What this engagement covers
Complaint handling workflow design and documentation. Feedback loop enrollment and management. Acceptable use policy structure and enforcement framework, developed in coordination with your legal counsel. Blocklist operator relationship development and response procedures. Sender monitoring and escalation protocols. Staff orientation as the program is built. Four scheduled calls across the engagement — program kickoff, 30-day checkpoint, 60-day checkpoint, and 90-day transition review — plus weekly written status updates during active build phases. A transition document at the 90-day mark covering program state, open items, and recommended next steps.
What this engagement does not cover
This engagement is advisory and operational, not legal. Acceptable use policy language and enforcement criteria with contractual dimensions require review by qualified counsel. I work alongside your legal counsel rather than replacing them, and findings with legal implications are referred to qualified counsel throughout the engagement. This engagement does not include direct access to or modification of your sending infrastructure or platform configuration. Remediation decisions remain with your team.
Who it is for
ESPs and sending platforms that need to build a functional abuse program, not just assess one. The starting point does not need to be zero. What the engagement requires is a commitment to staffing the program and a technical and operational contact with authority to implement decisions. No prior assessment engagement is required.
What you leave with
A functional abuse program with documented processes your team can operate and explain. Complaint handling workflows built and documented. Acceptable use policy structure developed in coordination with your legal counsel. FBL and blocklist operator relationships established or formalized. Staff oriented to the program and its procedures.
At the 90-day mark: a transition document covering program state, open items, and recommended next steps. Sometimes that is a clean handoff to your team or continuation under a month-to-month arrangement.
Prerequisites
A technical and operational contact with authority to implement program decisions. Access to your current complaint handling processes, acceptable use policy, and any existing blocklist or FBL correspondence. A dedicated point of contact who can answer questions and refer issues across the organization if required A commitment to staffing the program during and after the engagement.
Most of that either exists or it does not. If it does not, that becomes part of the buildout.
Ready to talk through where your program stands?
A free 30-minute assessment call is the right place to start if you want to talk through where your program stands before committing to a full build engagement.