How to configure Fail2Ban in Ubuntu 16.04

If you have set up a Linux server, you may be unaware how many times someone has attempted to compromise it. Any server that is open to the web has surely had bots trying to gain access to them by bombarding the server with default username and password guesses. They attempt to exploit your SSH and web ports to gain access. Thankfully fail2ban can help stop these login attempts.

SSH is still a very secure network protocol to access a remote server. Once connected to a remote server, all communications between you and the host is cryptographically secured, much like HTTPS traffic is secured with SSL. Setting up ssh to connect to a remote server does have some inherent risks, however, since a port is required to be publicly open to initiate a session. These risks can be mitigated with fail2ban, a service that automatically modifies iptables based on the number of failed login attempts from an IP address.

If fail2ban determines that an IP address has unsuccessfully attempted to login enough times, it will add an entry is added to iptables. Iptables, a command line firewall utility, will then drop any incoming connection from the IP address. This will prevent a brute force attack by limiting the number of attempted logins that they are able to perform.

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Customize WordPress Twenty Seventeen CSS

Once you have installed WordPress, you will notice the themes, especially the default yearly themes, are often overused. However, with a bit of code, you can make your WordPress site stand out. By changing CSS styles, we can change the look and feel of a WordPress theme to fit a custom site.  Here’s a breakdown on how I used custom CSS to improve the look and feel of my website to fit my personality.

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How to install WordPress on Ubuntu 16.04

So I’ve decided to chronicle my projects for all to see on my new blog. I can’t think of a better way to christen the site than to walk though the process of installing WordPress on a server.

We’re going to need a few things to get started, like a computer to act as our webserver. I’m developing this website on my Ubuntu 16.04 laptop, and will be walking though all the steps with this OS in mind. Most Linux distros should have fairly similar steps for installing the dependencies, but you should consult google for specific instructions.

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