I was logged into my Cloudflare account today attempting to setup Tunnels when I noticed various security events related to my domain. Upon further inspection I realized that they all originated from a Microsoft Owned IP address (I’m assuming somebody running a Azure VM instance).

Looking into the actual request headers I can see that whatever bot was running was looking for common PHP exploits or unsecured endpoints.

I usually ignore such instances as I have proper firewall rules both on the Cloudflare side as well as my local network side so I’m doubting there’s actually any threat to my network. However, I decided today to email the abuse contact provided from the WHOIS details. Was wondering if anybody else had experience with writing these? Is it even worth writing them or do they just end up being a waste of time?

Edit: Thanks everybody for the responses! Seems that it’s up in the air if I’ll ever get a response back. Maybe that’s okay - Looks like the general consensus is that these usually do end up getting taken seriously (at least by some providers). I guess I’ll keep composing away even if it’s just an exercise in good internet stewardship :)

  • rs5thEnglish
    24•1 year ago

    I’ve actually done this for a Microsoft owned IP before. Someone was Wordpress-scanning a particularly fragile application of one of my clients (which was not Wordpress) which was causing it to fall over. The scan stopped within an hour of sending the abuse email.

    Edit to add: I used to work in a NOC for a tier 1 ISP. We had an “abuse department” (a couple people) that investigated these and opened tickets with the NOC. I’ve emailed customers and disconnected circuits as a result of abuse emails, so I wouldn’t say they’re totally useless, but I’m sure it depends on the company involved.

    • TerrasqueEnglish
      8•1 year ago

      I used to work in a NOC for a tier 1 ISP. We had an “abuse department” (a couple people) that investigated these and opened tickets with the NOC. I’ve emailed customers and disconnected circuits as a result of abuse emails, so I wouldn’t say they’re totally useless, but I’m sure it depends on the company involved.

      I also worked at an ISP for a period, actually worked at two different ones. The first one let the abuse mailbox go full, because no one was reading it. The second they were reading it, but mostly to find new places to download stuff :D

    • Admiral PatrickEnglish
      4•1 year ago

      Wait, what? To their [email protected] or whatever email (whatever’s listed in whois)?

      I’ve had Azure IPs absolutely hammering my VoIP server and absolutely none of the reports I sent were even acknowledged. Ended up just blocking the entire Azure CIDR range in the firewall.

      AWS, OTOH, got back to me within about an hour and a resolution within 3.

      • rs5thEnglish
        5•1 year ago

        Yep! Just for whatever the abuse contact was in whois. Could have been coincidence, or maybe just whoever was on shift in Azure town at the time. I don’t remember if I got a response or not from MS.