this post was submitted on 09 Jul 2025
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107
Got my first script kiddy (lemmynsfw.com)
submitted 3 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
55 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Nice big old port scan. Brand new server too. Just a few days old so there is nothing to find. Don't worry I contacted AWS. Stay safe out there.

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

I think a lot of peope understandably misunderstand this post because it doesn't really explain the situation. After reading OP's comments I gather that OP put a new server online (not on AWS) and was immediately port scanned by a host that is on AWS. Since OP did not consent to being port scanned, they filled out an abuse complaint with AWS, the hoster the scan came from, out of principle, knowing that it probably won't do much. Which is totally fine if that is how you want to spend your time.

I think what most commenters thought is that OP was hosting with AWS and complained to them that someone else scanned their server. This does not seem to be the case.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Absolutely not — the issue here is OP knowingly submitting false abuse reports.

Port scans of public hosts are not considered abuse per the CFAA or Amazon’s AUP without other accompanying signs of malicious intent.

https://aws.amazon.com/aup/

Amazon may take action against egregious mass-scanning offenders per the “…to violate the security, integrity, or availability of any user, network…” verbiage of the AUP, especially if they’re fingerprinting services or engaging in more sophisticated recon, but OP’s complaints are nowhere near meeting that threshold.

[–] [email protected] 102 points 3 days ago (1 children)

It wasn't a script kiddy. It wasn't even a human. You are going to be a very busy individual if you decide to report every port scan you find.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 days ago (1 children)

That's what automation is for

[–] [email protected] 21 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Or just close off the most common vectors, such as disabling root ssh login, doing key-only SSH auth, and block traffic from regions of the world you don't need to support.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago

Key-only SSH with fail2ban and I sleep easy a night.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago

I got a huge reduction in random login attempts when I changed my ssh port away from the default.

(Of course I also have actual security measures like log in by key only)

[–] [email protected] 68 points 3 days ago (1 children)

You contacted Amazon over a port scan?

[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Yes. Don't port scan my shit.

[–] [email protected] 63 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (13 children)

Umm..

You know how that works, right? Like, if you don't want to expose ports, just... don't expose them. But you can't prevent port scanning.

I would love to see the support request from AWS for this.

Edit: also, I think "script kiddy" is a bit of a stretch here.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 days ago (1 children)

"Good luck with that."

I realize you're inexperienced and excited, but this is truly no big deal. Port scans are quite common and aren't even always malicious. You can use nmap to scan systems yourself - just to see what's out there or to test if your firewalls are woking, etc.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

And the first time I used nmap on my college network, a professor called up the help desk to report that he had been port scanned.

Then my freind at the help desk told me not to run nmap again and to wait until after dark to pull all the reel to reel tapes out of the dumpster….

[–] [email protected] 62 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Uh sorry dude, but no this isn't a script kiddy, these are bots that scan every IP address every day for any open ports, it's a constant thing. If you have a public IP, you have people, govs, nefarious groups scanning it. AWS will tell you the same as if you were hosting it locally, close up the ports, put it on a private network. Use a vpc and WAF in AWS' case.

I get scanned constantly. Every hour of every day dark forced attempt to penetrate our defences.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago (6 children)

Not on AWS and yes I know I can't stop port scanning and bad traffic is a thing. Doesn't stop me from filling out the form. I think to piss off you and the other commenters, I'll write a script to auto fill out AWS abuse forms. Also script kiddy or bot, all the same to me, their hosting provider is getting a message from me

[–] [email protected] 55 points 3 days ago

Port scanning isn't abuse but automatically filing frivilous abuse reports is.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I'll write a script to auto fill out AWS abuse forms

Sounds like you are the script kiddie here

[–] [email protected] 24 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Good luck with that, I suppose. Botnets can have thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of infected hosts that will endlessly scan everything on the interwebs. Many of those infected hosts are behind NAT's and your abuse form would be the equivalent of reporting an entire region for a single scan.

But hey! Change the world, amirite?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Meh. I know everyone is giving OP the piss, but I used to fret about this type of stuff long time ago. LOL That became a job. Then I learned a little more and realized I wasn't being targeted specifically by some hooded specter in a dimly lit basement emphatically announcing 'I'm in!', but that these were bots. Sophisticated bots tho, I'll give them that.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 days ago (1 children)

My general attitude is similar to yours. Let OP figure out that the reporting and blocking is basically just creating more noise that has to gets filtered out and bot supply is basically infinite.

"It's a learning experience."

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 days ago

Yeah with Amazon's sheer size this has definitely been done before, curious what limits op is going to hit. My guess is they have a quota for submissions, and they'll be banned from submitting tickets.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I mean go for it? They literally can't do anything, you might as well complain that fire is hot though. It's part of being in the Internet. They provide safety gloves, via VPCs and firewalls, but if you choose not to use them then.. yeah I mean youre probably gonna get burned

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 days ago

This is some cartoon-villain type unhinged behavior.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago

Not on AWS and yes I know I can’t stop port scanning and bad traffic is a thing. Doesn’t stop me from filling out the form.

On occasion, if they end up in recidive, I'll report them to AbuseIPdb. If I did it for all attempts, I'd be as busy as a squirrel in a nut factory, because the bots are thick out in the ether. Like every minute of the day they're out there throwing rocks at the castle wall. I had to start logrotating because logs were getting so big it was difficult to review and audit. Every so once in a while, they'll break out the trebuchet and lob something significant, but I've had no breaches to date.

My servers are single user only, so buttoning things down is a little less complicated for me.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I have 750 bots stuck in HTTP tarpits right now, and another 13 stuck in an SSH tarpit.

You can fight back! If we all fight back just a little bit, then mass-scanning and scraping becomes too expensive to do.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 days ago

Amen

[–] [email protected] 21 points 3 days ago (1 children)

If I showed you my WAN-side firewall logs you'd have a panic attack. I have a /29 block and about 10 scans tap one IP or another every second. It's part of being on the internet.

Your domestic home router experiences the exact same thing. Every moment of every day.

Will you report every scan? Every Chinese IP? Every US IP? It's completely common place to have someone 'knock on the door'.

Get off IPv4 anyway and onto IPv6. Good luck to them finding you by chance in there.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago

I ran a Tor relay on one of my spare servers for a while, and my god did that thing get port scanned. Even two years after I stopped hosting the relay, it was still getting pinged every 5-10 seconds (while my other servers tend to get pinged "only" once ever 20-30 seconds).

[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Switch to IPv6 only and the port scans will go away. The address space is so big that port scanning is difficult, so the usual bots don't bother.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Sure but there are just some things you can’t run over ipv6

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Such as?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Some game servers, some ISPs don't provide IPv6 for (some of) their customers.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Ah game servers yes that's fair. I found that with Astroneer. If the ISP doesn't provide V6 though it's time to switch ISPs.

Majority of traffic to Google is now V6 in most countries. Globally it's still just under 50%. https://www.google.com/intl/en/ipv6/statistics.html

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

If the ISP doesn't provide V6 though it's time to switch ISPs.

cries in USA

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

You could always get a tunneled V6 line but it's a lot of hassle for something you should have by default.

Us europoors may not have golden toilet seats and medical insurance, or V8 Chevvies, or American Size Mayonnaise, but we have our 2a02:7892:1234:::/64!!!!!

Monopolistic control of buildings by one ISP is illegal in most Euro countries :D

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 days ago

Trying to learn here, are these SSH login attempts on the root user? If not, is it just the firewall logs?

[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Remember to also report ssh login attempts and unauthorized wordpress access (even if wordpress isn't installed).

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 days ago

Also, all spam messages.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Haha, I get one of those every other day.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago

The sad reality of the Internet. Being the first for this new server feels like a "Welcome to the Internet, glad you are here" kind of message

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 days ago

I am reminded of a Richard Pryor skit in which he tells about a football player he knew who bit the fingers off of an opponent who was trying to gouge his eyes through his helmet. When Pryor asked him why he bit the guy's fingers off he said 'Everything outside the mask is his. Everything inside the mask is mine.'

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