[ale] ssh brute-force

[Edward Holcroft]

Thanks everyone for the useful links and comments. I decided to go with
port 443 since that was already open to the world, meaning I did not need
to open an additional port.

I was happy to note that enabling password logins did not stop my ssl-based
logins from working on the same server. I was worried it might be an
either/or scenario. Unfortunately, for the service I'm setting up I had to
provide a password-based login. I set up a restricted user for this purpose.

Will monitor things and see what kind of hits I get on that server.
Hopefully the problem goes away or is significantly reduced by this. If I
still see lots of hits then I guess I'll just have to go back to denyhosts
which seems to do a great job of nailing things down. Of course, I'd rather
not have the hits at all.

cheers
ed


On Mon, Feb 17, 2014 at 9:37 AM, JD <jdp at algoloma.com> wrote:

> Securing ssh:
>
> http://blog.jdpfu.com/2011/08/23/securing-ssh-connections-and-blocking-failures
>
> The short version is:
> * only allow key-based logins, never passwords
> * use denyhosts or fail2ban
> * change to a non-default port (any will do) - use port translation at the
> router to make life easier, NOT on the server itself.
> * do not allow direct root logins over ssh, even on the LAN.
>
> On 02/17/2014 08:51 AM, Lightner, Jeff wrote:
> > The reason why changing the port drops hits to near zero even if someone
> is doing a port scan is that the port scan doesn't tell them the port is
> ssh - just that it is open.   Of course doing a telnet to an open port
> might reveal that..
> >
> > The fail2ban idea is a good one.  So is using the high number but you
> CAN do nmap for high numbers - most people just don't.  Security is all
> about hardening so the bad guys move on to easier targets.  Nothing is
> really going to stop the determined folks specifically targeting you but it
> will keep out most of the hit and run types and script kiddies.
>
> _______________________________________________
> Ale mailing list
> Ale at ale.org
> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
> See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>



-- 
Edward Holcroft | Madsen Kneppers & Associates Inc.
11695 Johns Creek Parkway, Suite 250 | Johns Creek, GA 30097
O (770) 446-9606 | M (770) 630-0949

-- 
MADSEN, KNEPPERS & ASSOCIATES USA, MKA Canada Inc. WARNING/CONFIDENTIALITY 
NOTICE: This message may be confidential and/or privileged. If you are not 
the intended recipient, please notify the sender immediately then delete it 
- you should not copy or use it for any purpose or disclose its content to 
any other person. Internet communications are not secure. You should scan 
this message and any attachments for viruses. Any unauthorized use or 
interception of this e-mail is illegal.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mail.ale.org/pipermail/ale/attachments/20140218/e1cc9d38/attachment.html>