SSH is the industry standard for managing Linux servers remotely, but default configurations leave you vulnerable to automated brute-force attacks. Here is a high-level blueprint for locking down your Arch Linux server:
1. Update & Optimize: Keep your system patched and use Reflector to ensure you are pulling from the fastest, most up-to-date Arch mirrors.
2. Install OpenSSH: Install the package and enable the service to start on boot.
3. Create a Dedicated SSH Group: Restrict system access by creating a specific user group strictly for SSH logins.
4. Harden Configuration Settings: Use drop-in config files to change the default port, completely disable root login, lower authentication limits, and restrict access to your dedicated SSH group.
5. Set Up Key-Based Auth: Passwords can be brute-forced; cryptographic keys cannot. Generate a modern keypair (like Ed25519) locally and push it to your server.
6. Disable Password Authentication: Once your key login is tested and working, disable password logins entirely to neutralize credential attacks.
Defense in Depth:
For a truly robust setup, pair these SSH configurations with a strict firewall (like UFW) to limit port access, and Fail2Ban to automatically block malicious IPs.
Ready to implement this on your server?
If you want to see the code, configuration file snippets, and exact bash commands to execute this setup, visit the website!
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