This morning, shortly after 9:00, Duckpond (the server that hosts this site, among others) decided to start sending assloads of spam. I spent a frantic hour looking over logs, checking for security breaches and the like, and generally panicking like a headless chicken. Or duck, if you prefer.
And then I found the culprit. (I’d have found it sooner if I’d read the headers on the spam messages more closely to begin with, of course.) For some reason I can’t even remember anymore, I had a PHP “formmail” script laying around on the server. Someone found it and abused the living shit out of it, mostly to spam AOL addresses. How nice.
I’m going to go turn in my Geek Membership Card now, as I have clearly forfeited any credibility I might once have had.
Stupid. Stupid stupid stupid. Stupid. Ladies and gentlemen, I am the April Fool.
Comments
7 responses to “Yes, folks, it’s been confirmed. I’m an idiot.”
Well now I don’t feel so bad.
The other day “Maria” my file and printer server was hacked to within an inch of it’s life because I had absent mindedly forgoten that Windows 2000 Server installs that IIS abomination by default.
I’m thinking a quiet, solem geek card burning ceremony is in order here as well. 😐
Awww… Buck up Ducky… We all make silly little geek mistakes sometimes.
this would be why I don’t have AOHELL, and remove any and all remnants from everything I have running on my computer…
Don’t feel bad, though. Sounds like everyone has been having burp problems lately…
~M
Now you know why I’m willing to pay for my webhosting – it would have taken me days to find that.
If it makes you feel any better, i am pretty clueless about techie stuff in any capacity… you saw what i did to my Thingie yesterday with those images *grin*
O.k. I’m not going to laugh at you.. I’m going to laugh with you. My money says they were from latin america 😉
You *explained* it to me, and I’m still rather vague on what it all meant…but I’m very glad you fixed it! 🙂