Setup Fail2ban
Login only with SSH keys. MFA on SSH login. Use SSH proto 2.
Disable passwords, x11 forwarding, root logins
Reduce Idle timeout interval
Limit users’ SSH access
That should be more than enough for the average use case.
Regular updates are definitely necessary too. Also, if you do limit SSH users to a chroot make sure you limit TCP (port) forwarding too.
You can have 2FA on ssh?
Yep. Use SSH keys, not just protocol.
On connection, it’ll ask for your SSH password (this is different from the users password).
After that with something like authelia in place, you’ll be asked for a 2fa code.
So, no. SSH can’t do 2FA? I would need to set up Authelia and connect through that? I already use ssh keys instead of passwords to connect to my server
It is possible to have 2FA with a security key and ssh. Been on my to do list for some time to try it.
Yes it can. I literally have it set up right now.
When I connect to my vps I am promoted for the password for my SSH key. Only works on a machine that has the ssh key.
Then I need to use 2fa.
Ah, so it the asks for the TOTP provided by Authelia? I misunderstood, sorry. That’s pretty cool. Do you maybe still have the guide you used to set that up?
Don’t expose anything to the Internet that you don’t absolutely have to. If you can, put everything behind a VPN gateway.
Make backups. Follow the 3-2-1 rule.
Will a wireguard docker image work for getting ssh access to my server?
Don’t turn it on is the ultimate technique
That’s why “availability” is a core tenet of security (according to some cybersecurity course I took). It is easy to prevent unauthorized access to data if you have no requirements on authorized access.
barring that, unplug the ethernet.
- fail2ban / brute forcing prevention
- quick, frequent updates(!)
- containerization / virtualization
- secure passwords, better keys
- firewall
- a hardened operating system (distribution)
- SELinux / Apparmor / … / OpenBSD
- not installing unnecessary stuff
- An admin who is an expert and knows what they do.
Me, two+ decades into tinkering and still a dumbass: “look at me, I’m the expert admin now”
fail2ban
… is an intrusion prevention software framework. Written in the Python programming language, it is designed to prevent brute-force attacks. It is able to run on POSIX systems that have an interface to a packet-control system or firewall installed locally, such as iptables or TCP Wrapper.
Firewall and deciding on an entry point for system administration is a big consideration.
Generating a strong unique password helps immensely. A password manager can help with this.
If this is hosting services reducing open ports with something like Nginx Proxy Manager or equivalent. Tailscale and equivalent(wire guard, wireguard-easy, headscale, net bird, and net maker) are also options.
Getting https right. It’s not such a big deal if all the services are internal. However, it’s not hard to create an internal certificate authority and create certs for services.
If you have server on a VPS. Firewall is again your primary defense. However, if you expose something like ssh fail2ban can help ban ips that make repeated attempts to login to your system. This isn’t some drop in replacement for proper ssh configuration. You should be using key login and secure your ssh configuration away from password logins.
It also helps if you are using something like a proxy for services to setup a filter list. NPM for example allows you to outright deny connection attempts from specific IP ranges. Or just deny everything and allow specific public IPs.
Also, if you are using something like proxmox. Remember to configure your services for least privileges. Basically the idea being just giving a service what it needs to operate and no more. This can encompass service user/group names for file access ect.
All these steps add up to pretty good security if you constantly assess.
Even basic steps in here like turning on the firewall and only opening ports your services need help immensely.
Ask yourself a few questions first before following the massive amount of suggestions and then locking yourself out and so on.
- What are you worried about ?
- How important is your stuff ?
- Make backups and check them
Still worried ? Then there’s the easy way out : Hire some security auditor to help you find holes you left.
Stumbled uppon this guide
https://github.com/imthenachoman/How-To-Secure-A-Linux-Server
I think its a good place to start
Do a search for you server OS + STIG
Then, for each service you’re hosting on that server, do a search for:
Service/Program name + STIG/Benchmark
There’s tons of work already done by the vendors in conjunction with the DoD (and CIS) to create lists of potential vulnerable settings that can be corrected before deploying the server.
Along with this, you can usually find scripts and/or Ansible playbooks that will do most of the hardening for you. Though it’s a good Idea to understand what you do and do not need done.
Air gapping
/s
Removed by mod
Use a hardened-by-default OS like OpenBSD, HardenedBSD, or something similar in Linux.
Move services away from known ports and don’t use ports that end with well known port numbers (22,80,443).
Moving ssh from 22 to 2222 or 443 to 10443 does nothing. You have ~65000 ports. Pick something random like 6744 or 2458
