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Tips for Securing SSH in Linux Box (Securing SSH Series)

Secured Shell or SSH is a great way to enable a secure login for your UNIX / Linux Box. However there are precaution that you should take in order to properly secure SSH daemon from being scanned or attacked by script kiddies or automated bots.

This week I’m going to write a series of article on securing SSH on Ubuntu Linux Box (VPS) and I’m going to link to this post from time to time.

  1. Disable Root login, enable SSH login for a handful of users only
  2. Install and configure Fail2Ban
  3. Limit access with Firewall Rules (limit by ip block, or ip address)
  4. Limit connection rate to SSH port
  5. Disable keyboard interactive login, Use public-key login
  6. Security Security through obscurity: Hiding SSH version
  7. Security Security through obscurity: Change default SSH ports

Hope this will help in securing your Linux Box / Linux VPS

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Test of new css for posting code

Hi there, this is a test page for trying out a new trick for posting code on WordPress without relying on Plugins. I’m trying to get lean on plugin for this website.


#!/bin/bash

this is a bash code
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Moved to Singapore!

The server finally has a new home! I finally had the time to look back into this aging blog and decided to moved it to a new datacenter in Singapore!

The new blog also features SSL-only connection which added a layer of privacy between the blog and your browsers.

You can expect more updates from now on!

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Ubuntu One cloud storage discontinued

Read this: The once-hyped Ubuntu One cloud storage service has been discontinued. Canonical through its Ubuntu One website has stated that Ubuntu One file services will be shut down permanently effective 1 June 2014.

ubuntuone

Users are being given time until 31st July 2014 to download and backup files from Ubuntu One before they will be permanently deleted. Additionally, the service shutdown will also affect Ubuntu One content and music store.

However, according to Canonical Blog, the shutdown will not affect Ubuntu One Single Sign On service, Ubuntu payment service or the U1DB database service.

My thoughts:
Personally, as I suspected early on – Ubuntu One is unable to compete with other Cloud storage competitors and thus decided to focus their efforts on other projects such as Ubuntu Phone project.

Additionally, I also won’t hold my breath on the Ubuntu Phone project as I find it quite hard for Canonical to find manufacturers that will carry Ubuntu OS on their phone. In my opinion, Ubuntu Phone depends too much on Android backend/platform which may risk legal entanglement in the future, or platform incompatibility should there are significant changes in Android platform in the future.

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A change of theme

Phew, I’ve finally decided to change the theme of my blog. The previous “Torn” theme have been in use for more than 7 years! So this day I finally gathered the courage to upgrade to the latest WordPress version and finally changed the theme.

P/s: I dont expect anybody to read this, but if anybody still does. It means that I’m still alive. Cheers!!

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Top 5 things I do with my Ubuntu Linux

I haven’t had much time since I migrated my blog to a new VPS server. However, here is a little treat for all my readers out there. The top 5 things I do with my Ubuntu Linux:

  1. Surfing the internet
    Pretty obvious – I usually surf the internet using my Ubuntu Linux on my Desktop computer. I’ve a dual-monitor setup computer with Intel Core i5 CPU (12GB RAM), It is not a gaming pc, but I do occasionally play DOSBox games as well as Need For Speed: World from another operating system. The seamless Unity integration with the web intrigues me though, wished I had touchscreen monitor
  2. Developing Android Application
    The qemu-based Android device emulator runs nicely on Ubuntu, with no sign of lagging presents in other operating systems. Plus with 12GB of RAM, I can say that I could study and do mobile application with relative comfort. For Android 4.x development, I prefer to use the x86 images, because put less contraint on the CPU for skipping ARM-related code translation.
  3. Torrents
    Usually this is being done in parallel with other works. My current favorite bittorent client is Deluge. For some reason, I find Azureus/Vuze too cumbersome and I haven’t got around to use Transmission. I used to study bittorrent protocol in my spare time, but has since abandoned it when I realise that I’ve not much time to spend on side-projects anymore.
  4. Writing Manual
    I’m now in the process of writing a Lab Manual for those who just begining to learn about Mobile Computing. Although I wouldn’t call myself as an expert, I think every little bit of knowledge-sharing helps. I’ll promise I’ll share my progress with all of you sometimes at the end of the year. Though, I usually prepare my academic papers using Latex (IEEE templates), I choose to write my manual in LibreOffice, for reasons that I’m more familiar with WYSIWYG word-processor, plus, the publisher would prefer to receive the written manuscript in OpenDocument or Microsoft OpenXML file.
  5. Internet Radio
    Though I rarely if ever listen to MP3 in portable devices, I do listen to internet radio station from Rhythmbox. There are sizeable collection of preset Internet Radio station in Rhythmbox according to genre and age-group. I prefer to listen to trance or easy-listening radio stations.

There you go, the top 5 things that I usually do with my Ubuntu Linux. Nothing fancy, just that I prefer to use Ubuntu for reasons of application development. I’m a terminal-emulator typed guy. I prefer to switch/change the environmental settings using terminal emulator, something I find very easy to do in Ubuntu (or any GNU/Linux distribution for that matter).

Until next time…