is there anyway i can filter/ignore specific error messages in the /var/log/messages?
Yes, many.
Here is something I use to give me summaries of iptables action by port #:
[root@gna ~]# cat bin/portActivity
#! /bin/bash
LOGFILE='/var/log/messages'
[ -n "$1" ] && LOGFILE=$1
egrep 'iptables' $LOGFILE | egrep -v 'PROTO=2' | sed 's/DF//' | awk '{ print $22}' \
| cut -b '5-' | sort -n | uniq -c | awk '{ print "port " $2 " had " $1 " hits" }'
[root@gna ~]# portActivity | head
port 21 had 15 hits
port 22 had 36 hits
port 23 had 20 hits
port 52 had 2 hits
port 53 had 1 hits
port 57 had 3 hits
port 60 had 2 hits
port 80 had 9 hits
port 110 had 1 hits
port 111 had 1 hits
[root@gna ~]#
YMWV depending on how your firewall logs stuff.
Learn the toolbox!
nobo