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Unauthorized activities that do not crash, "root," or deface the server can still cause headaches

  • Many (actually, most!) robots don't obey the "robots.txt" convention, accessing directories that are off limits or downloading too much too fast  (This constitutes unauthorized access)

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  • Worms that don't infect Apache (e.g. Code Red, recent FreeBSD/Apache worm) can still fill logs with junk, consume CPU cycles, waste your bandwidth, threaten other machines on your network, and cause denials of service due to server process/thread exhaustion

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  • Attacks on CGI scripts (such as older versions of formail.pl) allow spammers to route embarrassing spam through your server

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  • SQL injection can ferret out sensitive information from poorly secured PHP and CGI scripts

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  • The best way to recognize such abuse is usually (though not always) via the server logs