Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 15:26:56 +1000 From: Mark Sergeant <msergeant@snsonline.net> To: bv@wjv.com Cc: freebsd-isp@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Why the mail error for domains I don't host? Message-ID: <2b1cdb35c5a0ebfa693a1ce4fa5e81a3@snsonline.net> In-Reply-To: <20050221043613.GA21273@wjv.com> References: <4219551F.9010808@pyramus.com> <20050221043613.GA21273@wjv.com>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
On 21/02/2005, at 14:36, Bill Vermillion wrote: > The door open and in walked trouble - disguised as our our old > nemesis Blake Swensen, who uttered, at Sun, Feb 20, 2005 at 19:27 : > >> sendmail[93922]: j1L2kZa5093920: SYSERR(root): >> mx1.distinguish.com. config error: mail loops back to me (MX >> problem?) > >> I know everyone has seen this message at least once in their >> life from improperly configured sendmail. However, my log is >> filling up with these messages for domains I do not host.... and >> when I dig the mentioned host, it always resolves to localhost >> (127.0.0.1). This happens over and over again on for domain >> after domain. Are there really that many unskilled admins who >> publish their mail server's address as localhost, or is this >> some sort of hack that I should worry about? > > I won't call myself unskilled - but I have one domain that > in desperation I set the MX record to localhost. > > I was running about 300,000 spam messages PER DAY to that domain. > > Removing the MX record entirely cut me down to 25,000 to 50,000 > per day - as people would send the spam to the IP of the > web server. [both web and MX are on that one machine for a few > domains]. > > I know it's not supposed to be done, but I did this in > self-defense. > > The domain in question has been coming up #1 in Google, MSN, and > other search engines for the past 5 or so years - because it's > on of those domains that has a great name. > > During the height of the dot-com boom the owner was offered > $250,000 for the domain - $10K in cash in the rest in stock - which > was the sign of the times then. > > We're heading toward our peak which is typically March - and that's > about 7000 sessions/day and about 325,000 hits/day. > > Sorry if this site is giving you problems, but I'm open to any > suggestions that will keep the spam away and the 127.0.0.1 > is the only one I could come up with. 127.0.0.2 maybe, I can't think that many boxes will actually have that bound (apart from my laptop but thats a different matter entirely !). > > None of the other domains is set up this way - and all the mail > we host is for commecial sites - with no end-user/home accounts > at all. > > Bill > > -- > Bill Vermillion - bv @ wjv . com > _______________________________________________ > freebsd-isp@freebsd.org mailing list > http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-isp > To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-isp-unsubscribe@freebsd.org" >
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?2b1cdb35c5a0ebfa693a1ce4fa5e81a3>