Re: Wingate abuse problems continue.

Trevor Fiatal (trevor@CORP.HOME.NET)
Fri, 06 Feb 1998 01:39:41 -0800

Alan Brown admin access wrote:
>
> A heads up for the list's readers.
>
> We saw the response to complaints about Wingate's default settings
> from Wingate's authors several months ago.
>
> As a reminder, Wingate is a product to allow IP masquerading
> through a windows 95 platform. Unfortunately by default it binds
> to ALL network ports, including the WAN port.
>
> Wingate is being used extensively by IRC abusers and is starting to
> be used heavily by SMTP abusers (ie, Spammers) via the open Socks
> port on dialup modem connections.
[more good stuff chopped]

I can heartily agree with that one. @Home is currently experiencing
a rash of WinGate-related abuse problems, including the IRC and SMTP-
relay vectors noted in the original message.

It's gotten so bad that we've taken to actively scanning our own IP
space looking for unsecured WinGate installations so that we might
contact the owners of these boxes to show them the error of their ways.
Has *anyone* gotten a satisfactory response from the authors of this
miserable excuse for a product?

-Trevor

--
/--------------------------------=-----------------------------------\
|Trevor Fiatal - trevor@home.net |  Cringe before the onslaught      |
|Internet Applications Architect |     of my pithy nuances!          |
|@Home Network, SF Bay Area, CA  |                -- J.B. Hemlock    |
\--------------------------------|-----------------------------------/