I don't get hits, why all the bandwidth use?

I have 4 domain names on one hosting account with DreamHost. On a good day my counter program (www.statcounter.com-for a free counter it's great!) registers about 10 to 20 hits on the two most popular sites. But when I check the bandwidth usage, one site registers 29 MB/day while the other site (which I have been uploading gigabytes of pictures to) registers only 0.3 MB/day. When I go to DHs server statistics, it says the popular site has an average of 604 successful requests for pages per day! I'm worried that my site is being hijacked for nefarious purposes.

Here are my questions: Is it possible that my site is being used for something that I may not want it being used for? I really don't know a lot about what people can do with sites that aren't theirs. I have a guestbook page that isn't working. I'm afraid people are using that to send out viagra emails (don't ask me how - it's just an irrational fear I have.)

Is there a place in the stats can I look to see exactly what page people are going to? Maybe I haven't put my counter on the right pages and I really AM that popular.

Is there something in the stats I should be looking at that will give me more information?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Your raw logs are not pretty to look at, but have the data.

If your site is being used to send spam, you'll hear from dreamhost soon. :-)


tor.eff.org

Thanks for the reply. So it can be used to send spam? How do I find out and how do I prevent it? Thanks.

If you have an insecure script on your site it is then possible to hack it and use your site to send out spam E-mails. If you're using popular programs (like those available through the one click install) that are the latest version then being hacked is extremely unlikely.

If you're using the DH provided form mail that is secure, but other form mail scripts 'off the shelf' are not. Sending out E-mails through your website should not be increasing your bandwidth though.

using aw-stats may help you see what files are getting the most usage. But perhaps you should start with a simpler approach. make an extimate of how much data is involved in your index page. That would include the html (or whatever) page it self and any images or other content you call in there. now multiple that by the number of visitors that domain gets each day. If the stats system you're using shows what other pages people are visiting most you could do the same there. Get a feeling for how much data is being sent out to your visitors and I suspect you'll see how that could easily add up to 30mb.

Hope this helps.



--Matttail
art.googlies.net - personal website

Thanks mattail. I guess first I'll get rid of that non-functioning guest book and see if that helps. If it doesn't, I'll try to do what you suggest. I appreciate the help.