The two most used operating systems today are Windows and macOS. However, not just among developers but also among regular users, Linux has been growing in popularity each year.
If you want to create your virtual private server or test out a free operating system, Linux is a fantastic option. It is available in several distributions, including Fedora, Debian, and CentOS.
I was a little shocked by how simple it is for anyone to utilize such a tool to hack anyone. They use a tool that is so basic that even an idiot can use it to break into the computers of others (the interface is simple, but the security breach requires highly skilled hackers).
Ubuntu itself is vulnerable to cyberattacks, and it requires some measures and reliable services to strengthen its security features. A secure VPN for Ubuntu users can be of great benefit to them by encrypting their personal data from breaches and masking their location from being tracked.
You have made a significant improvement to your online privacy by deciding to use Ubuntu instead of a more conventional operating system like Windows or macOS. The next action is to increase your online security with an Ubuntu VPN.
What Is the Difference Between Ubuntu and Linux?
The Linux kernel, the heart of an operating system, serves as the foundation for the Linux operating system family. It makes it possible for hardware and software components to communicate.
Based on Unix, Linux is constructed around the Linux kernel. It was made accessible in 1991 and works with desktops, laptops, embedded systems, web servers, and gaming consoles. It is available in numerous variations known as “distributions.”
Ubuntu is a Debian-based Linux distribution. It is appropriate for the internet of things (IoT) gadgets, servers, workstations, and cloud computing. The primary distinction between Ubuntu and Linux is that the latter is a Linux distribution, whereas Linux is a family of operating systems built on Unix.
Best Tips to Protect Ubuntu from Cyberattacks
Here are the most effective and useful tips you can follow to stay secure online and protect your personal data and information:
Install Security Updates Automatically
It’s quite challenging to stay up to date because updates, and more crucially, security updates, are frequently issued for the programs that you have installed on your system. I advise you to install security updates routinely.
The unattended-upgrades package, which offers you complete control over whatever updates you wish to install automatically, can help you with this. Below is a video tutorial, and here is a whole blog post with guidelines and code samples.
Use Firewall
A firewall uses detection and prevention technology by applying a set of rules. A firewall permits you to limit both outgoing and incoming traffic. In combination with intrusion detection and prevention software like fail2ban, you can automatically block an IP address after a specific number of unsuccessful login attempts. This is sometimes known as “brute force” defense.
Use Sudo and Avoid Root
As you are aware, the root user has a lot of authority. We wish to reduce the necessity to even use this user because of this. It’s better to use the sudo command to increase your rights temporarily.
Using the usermod command, you can grant a user sudo capability.
[ usermod -aG sudo someuser ]
Avoid going crazy and giving every user sudo access. Limit the number of users having sudo access to no more than one. Use this command to acquire a list of the users who are a part of the sudo group to double-check.
Don’t Use Passwords; Use SSH Keys
In relation to passwords, we don’t want to utilize one to access the server over SSH. We wish to access the distant server using a key rather than a password.
Use the ssh-keygen command to create a key like this on your local system to set this up.
[ keygen-ssh -t ed25519 ]
Use the ssh-copy-id command to copy that key to the server after that.
[ ssh-copy-id -i [email protected]/id]
You can now try it out and connect to your remote server without a password.
Modifying the SSH Port
Altering the SSH port is another SSH security measure. Every hacker is aware that the standard SSH port is 22, which is. Uncomment the port line in the SSH config file once more, and then replace 22 with a random integer.
To locate a port that isn’t already in use by another application, I recommend browsing through this list of port numbers on Wikipedia.
Turn off IPv6
The next piece of advice is to turn off IPv6 completely (assuming you’re not using it). This lowers the attack surface of your system by entirely disabling IPv6.
Add these lines at the end of the /etc/sysctl.conf file to disable IPv6.
Apply the modifications using sysctl -p and use cat /proc/sys/net/ipv6/conf/all/disable ipv6 to confirm that IPv6 has been disabled. The IPv6 protocol is not enabled on your system if the value is 1.
Additionally, you can explicitly disable IPv6 connections for SSH as an added measure of security. To make the modifications effective, set the AddressFamily option in your ssh config file to inet and restart the sshd server.
Enable Basic Authentication
It’s a wonderful idea to implement basic authentication as an additional layer of security on top of your admin pages if you are operating a web server.
Even though some web applications have their own authentication mechanisms, it’s never a bad idea to use the server’s own security features to limit access further.
Conclusion
In this article, we have discussed the privacy-protective measure and tips you can follow to protect Ubuntu from cyberattacks.
ExpressVPN now offers an Ubuntu command-line (CLI) client with DNS leak prevention in addition to manual Ubuntu support for a number of VPN protocols.
