Presently, businesses, independent of their size, depend on dedicated servers for uninterrupted and effective operations. These strong dedicated hosting UAE servers strengthen them to offer excellent user experience, deploy best-in-class practices, and outperform rivals in their corresponding fields.
But having said that, utilizing this power requires substantial responsibility, i.e., the responsibility of safeguarding your dedicated hosting servers falls directly on your shoulders. Also, cyberattacks are on a continuous rise and financial losses from data thefts are costing businesses around $4.88 million. Therefore, it is more important to have a protected, dedicated server than ever before.
Thus, by protecting your server, you can guarantee your hosting platform, website, and sensitive information’s safety from various malicious threats. In this blog, we’ll be sharing 7 proven methods to secure your dedicated server from these dynamic threats.
Table of Contents
Understanding Website Security
A protected hosting server will safeguard its complete valuable information and online transactions from unauthorized access. Particularly, a safe web server is a protected server that strengthens your digital presence and the integrity of the data.
Common Server Vulnerabilities
First of all, you must understand various server vulnerabilities before securing your dedicated server. Some of the notable server vulnerabilities include:
● DDoS, or Distributed Denial of Service Attacks
DDoS cyberattacks attempt to flood your server with web traffic to interfere with access to digital services and websites. So as to take all the server processes offline. These types of cyberattacks can last up to a few days or even much longer.
● Code Injection
It is also recognized as RCE, i.e., remote code execution. This attack takes place when a hacker targets vulnerabilities in input validations in scripts or web applications to deploy and run malicious code. The websites or applications that instantly accept unregulated input are especially vulnerable.
Benefits of Securing Your Dedicated Server
Find out the key reasons why it is beneficial to secure your dedicated server:
1. Securing Against Malware Threats
Hackers or malicious attackers can penetrate your dedicated server with malware to fraudulently acquire valuable data. This malware is frequently hidden inside authorized web applications or scripts, enabling hackers to collect sensitive data without being seen. Therefore, analyze different web hosting plans that provide real-time malware scanning as well as server monitoring to minimize these dangers.
2. Avoiding Password Hacks
Passwords that are weak and easy to guess are pathways to safety breaches. After receiving the dedicated server, instantly change its password supplied by your dedicated web host. Always select a powerful and complicated password comprising of numbers, letters, capital letters, and symbols.
Try to avoid using similar passwords for all the accounts, like FTP accounts, control panels, and email accounts. Frequently update your passwords to further improve your website’s security.
3. Safeguarding Against System Vulnerabilities
Malicious attackers can make the most of software vulnerabilities on your dedicated hosting server for the purpose of gaining unauthorized access. Obsolete software is especially vulnerable to these types of attacks.
Hence, always remember to install software that obtains timely updates and implements the most recent safety patches to reduce potential threats.
4. Ensuring Protection From DDoS Attacks
DDoS, i.e., Distributed Denial of Service attacks, could overburden your dedicated hosting server with false web traffic, resulting in system breakdown and becoming inaccessible to authorized users at the time of peak periods. It can also exhaust all your server resources and interrupt server operations. Hence, it is crucial to deploy DDoS protection measures like advanced firewalls, load balancers, and so on.
Best Practices to Secure a Dedicated Server
Dedicated hosting servers are highly secure than shared and VPS servers; however, you’re required to secure them from various attacks like malware, ransomware, and viruses. Here we’re sharing some of the most proven methods to secure your dedicated server:
1. Always Use Updated Software
Outdated or obsolete software is a significant safety threat. Cyberattackers are always on the lookout for new methods to exploit software susceptibilities. Therefore, it is necessary for you to update your software regularly and make sure that you’re running the most recent version of your OS.
With MilesWeb’s robust dedicated server, you’ll get 24*7 managed support from professionals who will manage your server, software updates, and much more so that you can focus on growing your business.
2. Perform Frequent Malware Checks
Malware is a kind of software that has the potential to steal your valuable data, insert harmful code, or interrupt your systems’ functioning. It can contain trojans, viruses, worms, spyware, and much more.
MilesWeb provides round-the-clock monitoring using a remote hands add-on to keep malicious applications at bay. At the same time, antivirus can help secure your server.
3. Use DDoS Protection
As stated earlier, a DDoS attack can overburden your dedicated server with fraudulent web traffic, bringing your website down and resulting in prospective financial losses. Hence, apply advanced security measures to reduce these attempts.
One way is to choose MilesWeb’s dedicated server, which comes with pre-installed DDoS protection for your server. It’ll continuously keep an eye on incoming web traffic, detect deceptive activities, and avoid such connection requests to secure it from malicious threats.
4. Make Use Of Secure Networks
Always use a secure connection to log in to your hosting account; don’t log in on public networks like wi-fi in hotels, coffee shops, and airports because these networks aren’t completely protected and might expose your dedicated servers’ credentials.
Also, if you’re required to use a public network for logging in to your account, make sure that you’re using a VPN to protect your communication channel. Milesweb’s dedicated hosting servers are designed for the utmost security with greatly secured network connectivity.
5. Modify SSH Port
SSH ports, mostly used for running different services on dedicated servers, are regularly attacked by malicious attackers who are always looking for unauthorized access. 22 is the default SSH port, which is specifically vulnerable to these types of attacks.
Hence, you should immediately change its port number and try to choose another number greater than 1024. It is recommended because the majority of attackers use the scanner functioning in a particular range of 1024 or below.
Hence, always choose an SSH port that is higher than this range to avoid automatic scanners as well as unauthorized access. MilesWeb has the SSH protocol to create an encrypted connection between your dedicated server and the customer.
6. Restrict Root Access
Restrict root access to system admins and assign individual accounts for other users with limited privileges. This technique makes sure that every user will be able to carry out their specified task without affecting your dedicated server’s safety.
MilesWeb’s dedicated server comes with total root access, which allows you to customize your server settings as per your needs and assign privileges to other users.
7. Follow a Strong Password Policy
Passwords are considered the first line of defense when it comes to unauthorized access. Hence, use a strong password policy for all your accounts, making it mandatory to use passwords of at least eight characters long, comprising both upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols.
Also, frequently change your passwords and implement 2-FA (2-factor authentication) to increase security. MilesWeb’s dedicated servers are placed in highly secure data centers, offering top-notch infrastructure with up to 8 levels of security layers.
Conclusion
Protecting your dedicated hosting server is necessary for your website’s security from prospective data thefts. The aforementioned security methods are beneficial to mitigate growing cyber threats.
For further assurance, choose MilesWeb’s powerful dedicated server with 24*7/365 customer support. It’ll also reduce the load of security management off your shoulders and ensure consistent security for your dedicated server. If you still have queries, feel free to get in touch with us today!
