Editor's Note
Welcome to another exciting week of changing tech ecosystems! We've got a packed newsletter full of insights, upcoming events, and important stories/updates from last week.
What Happened?
Last week there were many topics on everyone’s minds from the widespread Verizon outage to the Iran GPS attack on Starlink to the outage X experienced on January 16th. From software glitches knocking out everyday communications, to state actors deploying electronic warfare against satellite lifelines, to platform instability under heavy load, one thing is clear: redundancy, proactive monitoring, and zero-trust principles aren’t optional!
In Case You Missed It…
Linux Server Tech Tips
This weeks tips are for the beginner—someone who just cracked open linux server and is about as clueless as I was when I found out people think bread falling over is funny (I’m not kidding). Security is the first thing everyone should think about before even starting a project. Here are a few tips to harden any Linux server.
Update everything first (the golden rule) Hackers love old bugs. Run this command:
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y && sudo apt autoremove
Tip: Set up auto-updates on Ubuntu: Install unattended-upgrades and enable it.
Don't let root log in directly (use a normal user + sudo) Edit your SSH config file:
sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config
Change PermitRootLogin yes to PermitRootLogin no Save, then restart: sudo systemctl restart ssh
Adjust: Create your sudo user first if needed!
Switch to SSH keys instead of passwords (super secure!) On your computer: ssh-keygen (hit enter for defaults) Copy the key: ssh-copy-id user@your-server-ip Then disable passwords in sshd_config: PasswordAuthentication no → restart SSH.
Easy tweak: Keep passwords temporarily if you're testing.
Change SSH port from 22 (stops most auto-attacks) In sshd_config: Change Port 22 to Port 5522 (or pick your own high number) Update firewall: sudo ufw allow 5522/tcp Restart SSH. Pro tip: Use a random port above 1024.
Turn on a simple firewall (block everything except what you need) Ubuntu easy mode:
sudo ufw allow ssh # or your new port! sudo ufw allow 80/tcp # if running a web server sudo ufw allow 443/tcp sudo ufw enable
Adjust: Add ports for your specific apps (like 3306 for databases).
Remove junk you don't need (smaller = safer)
sudo apt purge telnet ftp rsh sendmail postfix sudo apt autoremove
Customize: Only purge packages you're sure you don't use!
Make passwords stronger (no more "123456") Install: sudo apt install libpam-pwquality Edit /etc/security/pwquality.conf: Set minlen = 12 and add rules for upper/lower/numbers.
Quick win: Forces better passwords on new accounts.
Limit login tries (stops brute-force guessing) Install Fail2Ban: sudo apt install fail2ban It auto-bans bad IPs after too many tries.
Tweak: Edit /etc/fail2ban/jail.local for longer ban times.
Hide kernel info (makes hackers' jobs harder) Quick one-liner:
echo "kernel.printk = 3 3 3 3" | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf sudo sysctl -p
Bonus: Look up more sysctl tweaks for extra protection.
Scan regularly (catch problems early) Free tool: Install Lynis (sudo apt install lynis) then run: sudo lynis audit system It gives a report with easy fixes. Do this monthly!
Stay Updated
What did we write about last week?
🗓️Upcoming Tech Events:
FutureCon Cybersecurity Conferences: Next three events are on Jan 29th in Chicago, Feb 12th in Baltimore, and Feb 19th in Detroit. Register here today.
Apres-Cyber Slopes Summit: Feb 25th-27th in Park City, Utah. Click here for event details.
Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit 2026: Will be hosted in National Harbor, MD between June 1st and June 3rd. Click here for more details about this event.
Did You Know? In 2014, hackers turned a smart refrigerator into part of a botnet that sent out over 750,000 spam emails. Yes, your fridge could spam you—classic IOT nightmare fuel.
Till next time,