Closing Security Vulnerabilities with Plesk: Step-by-Step Guide

Closing Security Vulnerabilities with Plesk

In today's world, cybersecurity has become one of the most critical aspects of server management. In this article, we will explain in detail how to close security vulnerabilities using Plesk. We will proceed step by step and share the necessary commands.

1. Diagnosing the Problem

To determine whether there is a security vulnerability on your server, you should first evaluate the situation by using some commands. You can execute the following commands via SSH:

• top - Shows active processes and resource usage on the server.
• htop - A more detailed system monitoring tool. If not installed, you can install it using apt install htop or yum install htop.
• dmesg - Displays kernel messages to check for possible errors and hardware issues.
• netstat -tuln - Displays open connections and listening ports.

2. Firewall Setup

Setting up a firewall on your server creates the first line of defense against external threats. Below, you can find the installation and configuration of UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall):

• sudo apt install ufw - Install UFW.
• sudo ufw allow ssh - Allow SSH connections.
• sudo ufw allow 80 and sudo ufw allow 443 - Allow HTTP and HTTPS traffic.
• sudo ufw enable - Enable the firewall.

3. DDoS Protection Measures

To protect against DDoS attacks, you need to take some precautions. Here are some recommendations:

• Use Cloudflare or a similar DDoS protection service.
• Configure rate limiting settings.

4. Web Application Firewall (WAF) Installation

You can protect your web applications by installing a WAF on Plesk. ModSecurity is one of the most popular options. Follow these steps:

• Log into the Plesk control panel.
• Install ModSecurity from the Extensions section.
• After installation, enable ModSecurity for your relevant website.

5. Restarting Services

After making configuration changes, it is important to restart the relevant services. You can restart the services with the following commands:

• sudo systemctl restart apache2 - Restarts the Apache web server.
• sudo systemctl restart nginx - Restarts the Nginx web server.

Note: Choose the appropriate command depending on which web server you are using.

Conclusion

Closing security vulnerabilities with Plesk is a critical step to enhancing the security of your server. By following the steps above, you can secure your server. Remember, security is a process and needs to be continuously updated.