Security blindspots for selfhosted website
Security blindspots for selfhosted website
Hello. I’m pretty new here. I just managed to get my Raspberry Pi setup at home to selfhost a simple website that will act as my portfolio for some art I do.
I’m using WordPress to make the content of the website, meaning it runs on Apache, MariaDB and MySQL in the background. It’s connected via port 80 since I don’t want to pay for SSL certificates to setup https. There will be no accounts or transactions happening on my website. I don’t have anything to manage my dynamic IP but I’ll figure that out later. I’ve deleted the default Pi user on the RPi.
Are there security issues I should address preemptively? I’m worried for instance that I am exposing my home network, making it easier for someone to breach into whatever is connected there.
Any tips on making sure my setup is secure?
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Take a look at certbot. You don't need to pay for ssl and ssl is actually pretty mandatory for anything served on the internet.
Make sure you don't forward too much ports. And make sure you have a working firewall that only allow those same ports. You should be good to go then.
Noted ! I’ll make sure to set https up.
Tbh, I haven’t heard the word firewall since probably 2005… would my router have a firewall built in or is that something I need to add on, let’s say, the RPi ?
Your router probably does have one, but your end devices should too. If your router is some piece of trash ISP-supplied one, it might not even have a firewall for IPv6 (if it even supports IPv6 at all).
Add it to the Pi. Easier maintenance.
Was going to say exactly the same thing.
Even if your router have one, better safe than sorry!
Also be advised that wordpress will attract all the internet to try and hack in, so make sure you keep everything up to date
Setting up fail2ban to block people trying to brute force the admin panel is a good start.
I would add from an end-user privacy perspective, they might want HTTPS. If I hit a website not using HTTPS, I pretty much immediately back out. Bad actors like hostile governments and hackers can use seemingly meaningless data against you.
I can’t remember exactly what happened but I remember back when WebMD was fighting against rolling out TLS hackers were able to find medical weaknesses against people.
Not too mention the scary browser warnings. It's not a good look tbh if this is your portfolio. Lots of great considerations and tips here already though.