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The 5 Most Dangerous Linux Services If Left Unsecured
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Intro:
Not every service running on your Linux server is dangerous — until it’s exposed. Some are necessary, others are legacy, and a few are downright risky if left open to the public. In this post, I’ll walk you through the top 5 Linux services I’ve seen most often exploited in real-world attacks, and what I do to lock them down.
1. SSH (Port 22)
✅ Why it’s dangerous:
- Most-scanned port on the internet
- Brute-force targets
- Common misconfigurations (e.g., root login enabled)
✅ What I do:
- Move to port 2210
- Disable root login
- Use key-based auth only
- Set MaxAuthTries 3 in /etc/ssh/sshd_config
- Protect with fail2ban
2. FTP (Ports 20, 21)
✅ Why it’s dangerous:
- Sends credentials in plain text
- Still found in old web hosting setups
✅ What I do:
- Replace with SFTP
- If absolutely needed, use vsftpd with encryption only
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