Can spammers forge DNS numbers?

I have a tough time believing 16#.11#.##.##

[larryhatch]

I get hits like the following all the time:

"Options FollowSymLinks or SymLinksIfOwnerMatch is off
which implies that RewriteRule directive is forbidden:
/home/virtual/site517/var/www/html/_vti_bin/owssvr.dll"

I presume its email spammers looking for vulnerabilities in my mail lists or whatever,
or maybe just hackers trolling. Up to no good in either case.
Once in a while I do a whois on the DNS # to see where they are coming from at least.

TODAY, the DNS #s traced all the way back to Hewlett Packard company, about as
white-hat as they come, generally considered a "good corporate citizen."
They would never risk their reputation on a scam like this.
Its hard to believe anybody working there would risk his or her job.

The question becomes: How hard is it for a hacker or spammer to spoof a DNS number?
I thought that was pretty air-tight. Was I wrong? -Larry

[ChadSEO]

Larry,

If I recall correctly, /_vti_bin/owssvr.dll is related to the "discussion" feature in Internet Explorer. It's an automated request from someone who has that featured turned on in their browser. While annoying in terms of error log entries, they're harmless.

Chad

[larryhatch]

OOOH DUH! That's right.
We've been thru that before, I simply forgot.
Glad to hear its harmless. Thanks for the reminder! -Larry

[jdMorgan]

This is an Apache configuration-related error message, and means exactly what it says: Apache tried to execute mod_rewrite code in one of your .htaccess files, and SymLinks were not enabled. So mod_rewrite failed to execute. This indicates a config error at best, and a security hole at worst...

"Options FollowSymLinks or SymLinksIfOwnerMatch is off which implies that RewriteRule directive is forbidden:
/home/virtual/site517/var/www/html/_vti_bin/owssvr.dll"

Jim

[larryhatch]

Well, one might suppose the robots would
behave better at this end of Lent. -Larry