Wierd access Log Entry

[Prattaratt]

What is this? I was reviewing my access log and found a bunch of entries similar to this one:
181.69.198.217 - - [08/Jan/2013:13:12:23 -0600] "\xc2\xb4tC\xcb" 200 2411

 

[ChrisHirst]

Latin American IP + Odd URI access attempt === 'cracker' bot testing for exploits.


You should try and make it so requests like that send a 403 or 404 response NOT a 200 response, because a 200 response to that tells me that you are using a scripted response URL for "URL Not Found" responses, and there might be a weakness there.



Chris.

Indifference will be the downfall of mankind, but who cares?
Time flies like an arrow, however, fruit flies like a banana.
Webmaster Forum

 

[Prattaratt]

I know that is an attempt to get into my site, and I should close the hole. Most of the attempts on my site do result in a 400 series response; this one got through. I wanted to know what the codes represent so I could figure how it was getting through and how to close that particular hole. I am assuming it is some kind of escaped byte code, but cannot pull up any info on it. Is it the PHP module, the HTTP module or something else?