Tips on Secure The Linux VPS SSH Program

Enable face it, the Secure Shell (SSH) daemon running on your VPS is the most sensitive service available to attack on your system. Any hacker worth their sodium will first try to get access to your VPS via SSH along with 99. 9% of all VPS attached to the internet run this service by default and on their public IP.
If somebody gains entry to your VPS via the SSH assistance, you can kiss your information and entire VPS goodbye. This can be a ultimate goal for any would-be hacker thus, needs to be the right off the bat you secure as a VPS supervisor.

In this article about ssh murah I'm likely to show you how to take three simple precautions with all the SSH service that will quit most hackers and script kiddies inside their tracks. So what will anyone learn?
How and why to change the port SSH listens upon How to disable password based use of SSH and only allow critical based access Monitor failed SSH login attempts and automatically block the originating IP using an Intrusion Detection System
Using the three steps outlined above it is possible to greatly improve the security regarding any publicly available SSH service running with a VPS and with no further financial cost to yourself, and so let's gets started.
Changing the actual SSH Listening Port
This is the easiest of the three measures to implement, but it really does reduce how many unauthorised login attempts to the VPS via the SSH services. The default SSH port will be 22 and every security check made against a VPS will always check if this port can be open. So let's close it through moving the port well dealt with.
Login to your VPS with root privileges Edit the following file /etc/ssh/sshd_config (e. g. mire /etc/ssh/sshd_config) Change the Port entry by 22 to something between 1025 and 65535 making sure you aren't already using the port for something different (run netstat -nap to check) Spend less the changes Restart the SSH program (normally /etc/init. d/sshd restart)
In addition, changing the default port also makes it simple for you to catch unauthorised people seeking to gain access the SSH service when used in conjunction with the Intrusion Detection System detailed later on in this post, so changing the SSH port is indeed a win, win situation.