We are getting mercilessly hammered with what looks like people
relaying spam through our Exchange server. I followed the advice last
year to make sure we aren't an open relay but the Current Sessions
queue in SMTP is constantly filled with email from outside domains and
we are getting 10-20K undeliverable emails everyday.

If I adjust the Access checkboxes so Anonymous Access is removed the
spam stops but we don't receive outside email. This is an Exchange
2000 server with SP3 on SBS2K and we are hosting our own email for
three different domains.

I talked to our consultant today and he suggested putting another box
in front of the Exchange server so it can get hammered and not the SBS
server. I'm going to research this and I was wondering if anyone else
had some alternate ideas on dealing with this.

Thanks!

Re: Exchange 2K is getting hammered by Jim

Jim
Mon May 02 18:10:49 CDT 2005

I do not recall seeing any anonymous access. I do see a box for allow
authenticated users to relay which I always uncheck.

I set the password for the disabled guest account.

I set the passwords to be at least 8 characters and be complex. After
a problem you should force everyone to change their password.

I review my ISA logs and start banning ips when I see attacks.

Have you gone back to the relay abuse testing sites to see if you are
set correctly? If you get blacklisted it is hell to get back off some
of the lists. Some blacklists definition of relay or problems is not
the same a true relay. At one account that I did not manage they had
to change their ip because a week after closing down the open relay
stuff they were still blacklisted.

Robert Shamansky <bshamansky@jwmbdottcom> wrote:

>We are getting mercilessly hammered with what looks like people
>relaying spam through our Exchange server. I followed the advice last
>year to make sure we aren't an open relay but the Current Sessions
>queue in SMTP is constantly filled with email from outside domains and
>we are getting 10-20K undeliverable emails everyday.
>
>If I adjust the Access checkboxes so Anonymous Access is removed the
>spam stops but we don't receive outside email. This is an Exchange
>2000 server with SP3 on SBS2K and we are hosting our own email for
>three different domains.
>
>I talked to our consultant today and he suggested putting another box
>in front of the Exchange server so it can get hammered and not the SBS
>server. I'm going to research this and I was wondering if anyone else
>had some alternate ideas on dealing with this.
>
>Thanks!

Jim B. SBS MVP
I don't have much to say but it can be found here
http://msmvps.com/bgb/

Re: Exchange 2K is getting hammered by Robert

Robert
Tue May 03 10:35:00 CDT 2005

We don't have ISA installed on the server. We are using a Watchguard
Firebox as our firewall. The SMTP logs show IP addresses, how do I
know which ones are from spammers and which ones are legit email?

We are coming up clean on the relay abuse sites so far. Thanks for the
input!

On Mon, 02 May 2005 23:10:49 GMT, Jim Behning
<jimbehning@spamblockmindspring.com> wrote:

>I do not recall seeing any anonymous access. I do see a box for allow
>authenticated users to relay which I always uncheck.
>
>I set the password for the disabled guest account.
>
>I set the passwords to be at least 8 characters and be complex. After
>a problem you should force everyone to change their password.
>
>I review my ISA logs and start banning ips when I see attacks.
>
>Have you gone back to the relay abuse testing sites to see if you are
>set correctly? If you get blacklisted it is hell to get back off some
>of the lists. Some blacklists definition of relay or problems is not
>the same a true relay. At one account that I did not manage they had
>to change their ip because a week after closing down the open relay
>stuff they were still blacklisted.
>
>Robert Shamansky <bshamansky@jwmbdottcom> wrote:
>
>>We are getting mercilessly hammered with what looks like people
>>relaying spam through our Exchange server. I followed the advice last
>>year to make sure we aren't an open relay but the Current Sessions
>>queue in SMTP is constantly filled with email from outside domains and
>>we are getting 10-20K undeliverable emails everyday.
>>
>>If I adjust the Access checkboxes so Anonymous Access is removed the
>>spam stops but we don't receive outside email. This is an Exchange
>>2000 server with SP3 on SBS2K and we are hosting our own email for
>>three different domains.
>>
>>I talked to our consultant today and he suggested putting another box
>>in front of the Exchange server so it can get hammered and not the SBS
>>server. I'm going to research this and I was wondering if anyone else
>>had some alternate ideas on dealing with this.
>>
>>Thanks!
>
>Jim B. SBS MVP
>I don't have much to say but it can be found here
>http://msmvps.com/bgb/


Re: Exchange 2K is getting hammered by Jim

Jim
Wed May 04 21:57:13 CDT 2005

dnsstuff.com has an ip lookup option. My account did not do business
with anyone in China so we assumed that they were ips safe to block.

Robert Shamansky <bshamansky@jwmbdottcom> wrote:

>We don't have ISA installed on the server. We are using a Watchguard
>Firebox as our firewall. The SMTP logs show IP addresses, how do I
>know which ones are from spammers and which ones are legit email?
>
>We are coming up clean on the relay abuse sites so far. Thanks for the
>input!
>
>On Mon, 02 May 2005 23:10:49 GMT, Jim Behning
><jimbehning@spamblockmindspring.com> wrote:
>
>>I do not recall seeing any anonymous access. I do see a box for allow
>>authenticated users to relay which I always uncheck.
>>
>>I set the password for the disabled guest account.
>>
>>I set the passwords to be at least 8 characters and be complex. After
>>a problem you should force everyone to change their password.
>>
>>I review my ISA logs and start banning ips when I see attacks.
>>
>>Have you gone back to the relay abuse testing sites to see if you are
>>set correctly? If you get blacklisted it is hell to get back off some
>>of the lists. Some blacklists definition of relay or problems is not
>>the same a true relay. At one account that I did not manage they had
>>to change their ip because a week after closing down the open relay
>>stuff they were still blacklisted.
>>
>>Robert Shamansky <bshamansky@jwmbdottcom> wrote:
>>
>>>We are getting mercilessly hammered with what looks like people
>>>relaying spam through our Exchange server. I followed the advice last
>>>year to make sure we aren't an open relay but the Current Sessions
>>>queue in SMTP is constantly filled with email from outside domains and
>>>we are getting 10-20K undeliverable emails everyday.
>>>
>>>If I adjust the Access checkboxes so Anonymous Access is removed the
>>>spam stops but we don't receive outside email. This is an Exchange
>>>2000 server with SP3 on SBS2K and we are hosting our own email for
>>>three different domains.
>>>
>>>I talked to our consultant today and he suggested putting another box
>>>in front of the Exchange server so it can get hammered and not the SBS
>>>server. I'm going to research this and I was wondering if anyone else
>>>had some alternate ideas on dealing with this.
>>>
>>>Thanks!
>>
>>Jim B. SBS MVP
>>I don't have much to say but it can be found here
>>http://msmvps.com/bgb/

Jim B. SBS MVP
I don't have much to say but it can be found here
http://msmvps.com/bgb/

Re: Exchange 2K is getting hammered by Robert

Robert
Thu May 05 10:07:43 CDT 2005

What exchange services should I be monitoring in the event logs to see
if anyone's account has been compromised by spammers. Thanks Jim!

On Thu, 05 May 2005 02:57:13 GMT, Jim Behning
<jimbehning@spamblockmindspring.com> wrote:

>dnsstuff.com has an ip lookup option. My account did not do business
>with anyone in China so we assumed that they were ips safe to block.
>
>Robert Shamansky <bshamansky@jwmbdottcom> wrote:
>
>>We don't have ISA installed on the server. We are using a Watchguard
>>Firebox as our firewall. The SMTP logs show IP addresses, how do I
>>know which ones are from spammers and which ones are legit email?
>>
>>We are coming up clean on the relay abuse sites so far. Thanks for the
>>input!
>>
>>On Mon, 02 May 2005 23:10:49 GMT, Jim Behning
>><jimbehning@spamblockmindspring.com> wrote:
>>
>>>I do not recall seeing any anonymous access. I do see a box for allow
>>>authenticated users to relay which I always uncheck.
>>>
>>>I set the password for the disabled guest account.
>>>
>>>I set the passwords to be at least 8 characters and be complex. After
>>>a problem you should force everyone to change their password.
>>>
>>>I review my ISA logs and start banning ips when I see attacks.
>>>
>>>Have you gone back to the relay abuse testing sites to see if you are
>>>set correctly? If you get blacklisted it is hell to get back off some
>>>of the lists. Some blacklists definition of relay or problems is not
>>>the same a true relay. At one account that I did not manage they had
>>>to change their ip because a week after closing down the open relay
>>>stuff they were still blacklisted.
>>>
>>>Robert Shamansky <bshamansky@jwmbdottcom> wrote:
>>>
>>>>We are getting mercilessly hammered with what looks like people
>>>>relaying spam through our Exchange server. I followed the advice last
>>>>year to make sure we aren't an open relay but the Current Sessions
>>>>queue in SMTP is constantly filled with email from outside domains and
>>>>we are getting 10-20K undeliverable emails everyday.
>>>>
>>>>If I adjust the Access checkboxes so Anonymous Access is removed the
>>>>spam stops but we don't receive outside email. This is an Exchange
>>>>2000 server with SP3 on SBS2K and we are hosting our own email for
>>>>three different domains.
>>>>
>>>>I talked to our consultant today and he suggested putting another box
>>>>in front of the Exchange server so it can get hammered and not the SBS
>>>>server. I'm going to research this and I was wondering if anyone else
>>>>had some alternate ideas on dealing with this.
>>>>
>>>>Thanks!
>>>
>>>Jim B. SBS MVP
>>>I don't have much to say but it can be found here
>>>http://msmvps.com/bgb/
>
>Jim B. SBS MVP
>I don't have much to say but it can be found here
>http://msmvps.com/bgb/


Re: Exchange 2K is getting hammered by Jim

Jim
Sun May 08 16:52:17 CDT 2005

Have you forced everyone to change their password?

Have set the password policy to 8 characters or greater and complex?

The joy of ISA is that you can read the ISA logs to look for bogus ips
hammering you. Technically not bogus but if you have no business doing
business with China then why would you see a lot of traffic from
China? You should have the same sort of logs in any firewall product
or else it is not worth having.

In answer to your Exchange question, I don't know. Maybe turn on
message tracking to max. If you right click your servername/properties
in Exchange System Manager you see all kinds of stuff you can track.

Robert Shamansky <bshamansky@jwmbdottcom> wrote:

>What exchange services should I be monitoring in the event logs to see
>if anyone's account has been compromised by spammers. Thanks Jim!
>
>On Thu, 05 May 2005 02:57:13 GMT, Jim Behning
><jimbehning@spamblockmindspring.com> wrote:
>
>>dnsstuff.com has an ip lookup option. My account did not do business
>>with anyone in China so we assumed that they were ips safe to block.
>>
>>Robert Shamansky <bshamansky@jwmbdottcom> wrote:
>>
>>>We don't have ISA installed on the server. We are using a Watchguard
>>>Firebox as our firewall. The SMTP logs show IP addresses, how do I
>>>know which ones are from spammers and which ones are legit email?
>>>
>>>We are coming up clean on the relay abuse sites so far. Thanks for the
>>>input!
>>>
>>>On Mon, 02 May 2005 23:10:49 GMT, Jim Behning
>>><jimbehning@spamblockmindspring.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>>I do not recall seeing any anonymous access. I do see a box for allow
>>>>authenticated users to relay which I always uncheck.
>>>>
>>>>I set the password for the disabled guest account.
>>>>
>>>>I set the passwords to be at least 8 characters and be complex. After
>>>>a problem you should force everyone to change their password.
>>>>
>>>>I review my ISA logs and start banning ips when I see attacks.
>>>>
>>>>Have you gone back to the relay abuse testing sites to see if you are
>>>>set correctly? If you get blacklisted it is hell to get back off some
>>>>of the lists. Some blacklists definition of relay or problems is not
>>>>the same a true relay. At one account that I did not manage they had
>>>>to change their ip because a week after closing down the open relay
>>>>stuff they were still blacklisted.
>>>>
>>>>Robert Shamansky <bshamansky@jwmbdottcom> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>We are getting mercilessly hammered with what looks like people
>>>>>relaying spam through our Exchange server. I followed the advice last
>>>>>year to make sure we aren't an open relay but the Current Sessions
>>>>>queue in SMTP is constantly filled with email from outside domains and
>>>>>we are getting 10-20K undeliverable emails everyday.
>>>>>
>>>>>If I adjust the Access checkboxes so Anonymous Access is removed the
>>>>>spam stops but we don't receive outside email. This is an Exchange
>>>>>2000 server with SP3 on SBS2K and we are hosting our own email for
>>>>>three different domains.
>>>>>
>>>>>I talked to our consultant today and he suggested putting another box
>>>>>in front of the Exchange server so it can get hammered and not the SBS
>>>>>server. I'm going to research this and I was wondering if anyone else
>>>>>had some alternate ideas on dealing with this.
>>>>>
>>>>>Thanks!
>>>>
>>>>Jim B. SBS MVP
>>>>I don't have much to say but it can be found here
>>>>http://msmvps.com/bgb/
>>
>>Jim B. SBS MVP
>>I don't have much to say but it can be found here
>>http://msmvps.com/bgb/

Jim B. SBS MVP
I don't have much to say but it can be found here
http://msmvps.com/bgb/

Re: Exchange 2K is getting hammered by Robert

Robert
Tue May 10 11:03:56 CDT 2005

I'll do all the above, thanks Jim!

On Sun, 08 May 2005 21:52:17 GMT, Jim Behning
<jimbehning@spamblockmindspring.com> wrote:

>Have you forced everyone to change their password?
>
>Have set the password policy to 8 characters or greater and complex?
>
>The joy of ISA is that you can read the ISA logs to look for bogus ips
>hammering you. Technically not bogus but if you have no business doing
>business with China then why would you see a lot of traffic from
>China? You should have the same sort of logs in any firewall product
>or else it is not worth having.
>
>In answer to your Exchange question, I don't know. Maybe turn on
>message tracking to max. If you right click your servername/properties
>in Exchange System Manager you see all kinds of stuff you can track.
>
>Robert Shamansky <bshamansky@jwmbdottcom> wrote:
>
>>What exchange services should I be monitoring in the event logs to see
>>if anyone's account has been compromised by spammers. Thanks Jim!
>>
>>On Thu, 05 May 2005 02:57:13 GMT, Jim Behning
>><jimbehning@spamblockmindspring.com> wrote:
>>
>>>dnsstuff.com has an ip lookup option. My account did not do business
>>>with anyone in China so we assumed that they were ips safe to block.
>>>
>>>Robert Shamansky <bshamansky@jwmbdottcom> wrote:
>>>
>>>>We don't have ISA installed on the server. We are using a Watchguard
>>>>Firebox as our firewall. The SMTP logs show IP addresses, how do I
>>>>know which ones are from spammers and which ones are legit email?
>>>>
>>>>We are coming up clean on the relay abuse sites so far. Thanks for the
>>>>input!
>>>>
>>>>On Mon, 02 May 2005 23:10:49 GMT, Jim Behning
>>>><jimbehning@spamblockmindspring.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>I do not recall seeing any anonymous access. I do see a box for allow
>>>>>authenticated users to relay which I always uncheck.
>>>>>
>>>>>I set the password for the disabled guest account.
>>>>>
>>>>>I set the passwords to be at least 8 characters and be complex. After
>>>>>a problem you should force everyone to change their password.
>>>>>
>>>>>I review my ISA logs and start banning ips when I see attacks.
>>>>>
>>>>>Have you gone back to the relay abuse testing sites to see if you are
>>>>>set correctly? If you get blacklisted it is hell to get back off some
>>>>>of the lists. Some blacklists definition of relay or problems is not
>>>>>the same a true relay. At one account that I did not manage they had
>>>>>to change their ip because a week after closing down the open relay
>>>>>stuff they were still blacklisted.
>>>>>
>>>>>Robert Shamansky <bshamansky@jwmbdottcom> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>We are getting mercilessly hammered with what looks like people
>>>>>>relaying spam through our Exchange server. I followed the advice last
>>>>>>year to make sure we aren't an open relay but the Current Sessions
>>>>>>queue in SMTP is constantly filled with email from outside domains and
>>>>>>we are getting 10-20K undeliverable emails everyday.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>If I adjust the Access checkboxes so Anonymous Access is removed the
>>>>>>spam stops but we don't receive outside email. This is an Exchange
>>>>>>2000 server with SP3 on SBS2K and we are hosting our own email for
>>>>>>three different domains.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I talked to our consultant today and he suggested putting another box
>>>>>>in front of the Exchange server so it can get hammered and not the SBS
>>>>>>server. I'm going to research this and I was wondering if anyone else
>>>>>>had some alternate ideas on dealing with this.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Thanks!
>>>>>
>>>>>Jim B. SBS MVP
>>>>>I don't have much to say but it can be found here
>>>>>http://msmvps.com/bgb/
>>>
>>>Jim B. SBS MVP
>>>I don't have much to say but it can be found here
>>>http://msmvps.com/bgb/
>
>Jim B. SBS MVP
>I don't have much to say but it can be found here
>http://msmvps.com/bgb/