RE: [cobalt-users] CPU heavily loaded, low on memory, smtp server not responding

["Michael Mckenna" <michael@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> > I checked my logcheck messages and the only thing I found
> > strange was tons of "lame server" and "bad referral" messages.
>Someone has you listed as being authoritative for DNS zones for
>which you are not.

This is not true.  If you are listed as authoritative for a zone you don't
have, you will get a different error message.
The Lame Server message means that your system queried someone else's DNS
and got a bad response. (Meaning the other system [not yours] may have been
listed authoritative for a zone it didn't have)

I don't want to jump to conclusions, but the sudden high load and heaps of
DNS traffic suggest that your system just sent (or attempted to send) a load
of spam.

For each recipient of the spam your system will make a DNS query to find
their mailserver.
Knowing a spammers typical mail list, a lot of the addresses are bad which
results in a ton of "Lame Server" and "Bad Referral" messages.

Michael Mckenna
Hotspace Web Hosting (Australia)