VPS Hosting Security

Virtual private server security

Security has been always the main issue in every corner of IT and whenever a ‘proper’ solution appears for a problem that has security risks within it, a new problem appears and this closed circle is endless for now. That is why to minimize the percentage of hack possibility you must use every resource and method on the market to keep you VPS secure from different hacker/virus attacks. Because of its virtualization technology VPS itself is very secure technology and to those who have used it or read previous articles, they know that the security is one of many advantages of a VPS.

The main advantage of VPS in security is the ‘physical’ (thanks to the virtualization technology) separation between the multiple accounts on the local server. But this can be useful only in situation with viral infestation that have attacked and infected one of the accounts and the possibility of spreading to other systems is almost impossible. But in the terms of security risks this is almost negligible when compared with the data manipulation attacks on the server that a VPS contains. This all depends on what kind of information does the VPS contain, but in nowadays those information are becoming more of a confidential nature due to the digitalization of everything, especially the money. Due to it being the ‘source’ for life maintenance, more and more people with little and great experience in the field of informatics are trying to use this in their advantage. Credit cards are now becoming a thing that can’t be replaced just like that, and it presents the future form of payment. However with nowadays level of hacking, which is increasing more and more, it’s possible to obtain the most valuable information about a person you want and use it to rob him, ‘destroy’ him or any of the mass options that the Internet has for us available now. So the best way of solving this problem is to cut the problem in its root, but unfortunately it can happen as the number of hackers is increasing more and more and they are just getting better and better.

The next solution would be to increase the level of security to a point where only the TOP of their class are able to get through the multiple layers of defense that is available for commercial usage. This is a pretty wide area for explaining due to multiple ways of defense but this all depends on what type of defense you use and of course the level of managing skills that the administrators of servers poses. Starting with the root selection, with private data management, shared hosting is the worst solution for a server due to its enormous security risks. Virtula private server and dedicated server are the ones you should be looking into due to their almost identical possibilities in this area. So, after selection of the type of server the next step would be selection of the OS. Now depending from one user to another the selection mainly goes around Windows Server OS and Linux OS. There is one fact that concerns the selection between these two operating system and that is the level of security which is higher with the Linux OS. But the reason for that mostly lies in the fact that prevalence of the Windows operating systems is far greater in the whole world then the Linux OS. This fact alone provides the hackers much greater range of ‘data collection’ as the constant attacks on the OS and its applications will eventually pay off due to some leaks in the system which are always there…they just need to be found and properly used to inflict great damage to specific users.

DDOS attacks and hackers

The most basic form of web hosting security takes place at the server level because this is where all of the software that is going to be required to prevent the most serious attacks such as DDOS attacks and hackers trying to gain access through compromised scripts will be hosted. There are multiple ways of protecting yourself from such intrusions and every single one of them matters if you hope to achieve maximum security with you VPS:

•    The first step is the strength of the password. This step is explained in two frequent used ways of getting someone’s pass. The first way would be if they have some personal data on you and try the password through some combinations with everything familiar to you. The next more common ways of cracking someone’s password is through Brute Force method. This method, like the name explains, uses all possible combinations in the dictionary and generally possible. Usually they start with the most familiar words known to be used for passwords, as there is a list of passwords with the most commonly used words. The best passwords must contain at least 8 characters (the more the better) with uppercase and lower case, numbers and special characters that usually are chosen from the secondary functions of the keys above the letters with the shift combination. Creating such passwords is highly recommended and will provide you a greater level of security. However due to many malware that appear all the time it is recommended that you change your password from time to time, so you can enjoy full protection when it comes to authentication.

•    The next step would be regular updates of the OS. This can present sometimes an issue, as automatic updates aren’t recommended with server surroundings from two reasons. One of them is possible tampering with the update system, which can lead to a disaster. Another reason is because of the server itself and different jobs that are executed on the server, which could be influenced by the updates. So it is probably best to download the updates manually and install them manually in a specific time when everyone will feel minimum downtime.

 •    Another step that is necessary is the antivirus protection that is available on the market. In the past couple of years, especially on the server market, one antivirus had the upper hand against the competition and that is the Norton antivirus. However the times have changed and there are now many competitors on the server and home usage section. The most used antiviruses with their different releases (free, premium, additional protection, etc…) are AVG, Avira AntiVir, ESET, Kaspersky and Norton.

•    Besides Antivirus protection there is constant danger from Spyware. Additional protection software from these types of infections is also very desirable to be installed on your system. What is mostly great with this kind of software’s is there nature working only as scanners, which reduces their vulnerability almost to zero. They can be of great importance, because of the detection rules they use, which are different from the ones of an antivirus.

 •    This leads us to intervene with the attack surface that is its exposure to the hackers. Reducing the attack surface can sometimes decide whether your system will remain intact or it will get hacked/infected.  This is due to different applications that are executed in the OS start-up and they increase the exposure of security breaches, because their effect on the system. Many times, if the hacker doesn’t spot the flaw in the OS, he will attack the software (applications) installed on the server and use them to breach the security. So make sure you turn off all of the start-up programs that are not necessary.

There are many other ways to breach security, but mostly that depends on the type of connection and the usage of the server. The rest is all configured by the level of the user’s knowledge in terms of security, if it is about a lower level of security, or the security that concerns the entre server which means the security needed to protect the root directory and its functions. Stay up to date with any software that you use, listen to the forum gossips and other people’s experiences, use them to your own advantage and you have a great chance of maintaining the level of security on almost enviable level. 

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