topic Re: Why have I been sinkholed? in General Topics

Why have I been sinkholed?

KjetilK — Mon, 06 Mar 2023 14:40:53 GMT

I former colleague just notified me that he couldn't get to my site https://normative-technology.org/ because it is CNAMEd to sinkhole.paloaltonetworks.com .

I understand what a DNS sinkhole is (in fact, I'm using them myself), but not why my domain ended up sinkholed by Palo Alto Networks. Also, I don't find any policy documents relating to the DNS sinkhole, any material to say what has been detected there, and no address to appeal the listing.

If there's something wrong there, I would love to hear about it, of course. It is a pretty straightforward Wordpress install, and I have scanned it for malware. It seems rather unlikely there something there...

So, any idea how I can get the site removed from the sinkhole list?

Re: Why have I been sinkholed?

BPry — Mon, 06 Mar 2023 14:53:51 GMT

@KjetilK,

You can use the urlfiltering https://urlfiltering.paloaltonetworks.com/query/ website to validate what PAN thinks about your domain. At the moment it is categorized as Grayware and the individual reporting the site to you simply has their firewall configured to sinkhole these domains. You can request a change on that page if you think the verdict is incorrect and it'll be reviewed.

Re: Why have I been sinkholed?

KjetilK — Mon, 06 Mar 2023 15:11:54 GMT

Great, thanks a lot, @BPry . I've suggested to add it to the philosophy and political advocacy category.