{"id":30996,"date":"2019-06-04T17:03:12","date_gmt":"2019-06-04T13:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/?p=30996"},"modified":"2023-11-01T15:04:29","modified_gmt":"2023-11-01T11:04:29","slug":"linux-server-hardening-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/blog\/linux-server-hardening-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Linux Server Hardening: Best Practices"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a common misconception out there today: Linux is safe - Windows is not. This simply isn\u2019t true. While there may be more vulnerabilities and risks out there for Windows operating systems - our ways of looking at this need to change. Instead of looking at the chances of risk, a more binary approach needs to be taken. <\/span><\/p>\n

Do vulnerabilities for Linux systems exist? Yes, they do. Therefore, we must do everything that we can to make our systems as safe as possible.<\/span><\/p>\n

In computing, <\/span>hardening<\/b> is the term that we use for describing the securing of a system. This process generally doesn\u2019t involve completely securing a system. Rather than locking the system down entirely, and therefore rendering it useless, the practice of server hardening addresses the best ways to minimize the points of vulnerability to the smallest number possible. <\/span><\/p>\n

There are a few different ways to approach this process. At the machine level, drives can be encrypted and the BIOS can be secured. At a system level, login security can be considered and password policies can be enacted. At the network level, ports can be blocked and firewalls can be configured. Overall, alerting can be configured, logging can be set up, and audits can be performed.<\/span><\/p>\n

The end goal of this process is balancing security with effectivity and accessibility. A completely open system may be the easiest to use - but is a security risk and may not be usable for long. A completely locked down system, while secure, offers no value if it can\u2019t be accessed when called upon. Here\u2019s a breakdown of the best practices for hardening Linux servers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Linux Machine Level Hardening<\/span><\/h2>\n

\"Linux<\/span><\/p>\n

Drive Encryption<\/span><\/h3>\n

Drive encryption will render any disk that is stolen useless by a would-be data thief. An encrypted drive is unreadable by anyone who doesn\u2019t have the encryption password or key. Many Linux distributions offer drive encryption as part of the installation process. Distributions that don\u2019t offer drive encryption can still be secured by using third-party encryption applications.<\/span><\/p>\n

One popular encryption application is <\/span>dm-crypt<\/b>. This can be installed with the following commands:<\/span><\/p>\n