this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2023
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Hi. I wanted to know if it's needed to install a firewall on a linux desktop/laptop. Why yes or why no?

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If you are worried that an attacker may have compromised your router and that key auth is not secure enough, then yes it would make sense.

I move ssh to a non-default port, only allow key based auth and install fail2ban. This is enough for me. It protects against automated attacks hitting port 22 and prevents brute force.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I don’t think my router has been compromised and I think it’s pretty unlikely it will be, but the extra rule seems pretty trivial to set up so if there are no downsides I may as well! I have already changed the SSH port and disabled password login. I’ll look into fail2ban, might be worth it if it’s relatively simple to set up!