A place to share alternatives to popular online services that can be self-hosted without giving up privacy or locking you into a service you don't control.
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I read the other day about a protocol called Gemini.
It might fit what you are looking for, if you goal is just to publish interesting content, or get the experience learning something new and different, but not for you if you want to monetize.
It is an alternate to the internet. You can self host there, also, but they have built Gemini to be unable to support applications, bots, malware etc... it goes much deeper, if you are curious, you should read, I am fascinated.
If you don't need stuff publicly accessible, and just need it accessible to you, then set up a small computer on the network as an ssh Bastion host/jump server, put it on a VPN connection with a VPN provider that offers dyndns, forward the ssh port through the dyndns, and then off network, reverse proxy in with socks5 via key based ssh -D to gain access to all the services available inside the LAN.
Been doing this for a few years, works great and no one is getting in without my ssh key.
Or with a exploit/zero day.
Chance is close to zero but never absolute 0 ;)
True enough.
Step 1 is to do everything inside your network with data you don't care about. Get comfortable starting services, visiting them locally, and playing around with them. See what you like and don't like. Feel free to completely nuke everything and start from scratch a few times. (Containers like Docker make this super easy).
Step 2 is to start relying on it for things inside your network. Have a NAS, maybe home assistant, or some other services like Immich or Navidrome. Figure out how to give services access to your data without relying on them to not harm it (use read only mounts, permissions, snapshots, etc.)
Step 3 is to figure out how to make services more accessible away from home. Whether that is via a VPN, or something like tailscale, or just carefully opening specific ports to specific secure and up-to-date services. This is the part you're feeling anxious about, and I think you'll feel less anxious if you do steps 1 and 2 first and not even think about 3 yet. Consider it its own challenge, and just do one challenge at a time.
Would something like Anubis or Iocaine prevent what you're worried about?
I haven't used either, but from what I understand they're both lightweight programs to prevent bot scraping. I think Anubis analyzes web traffic and blocks bots when detected, and Iocaine does something similar but also creates a maze of garbage data to redirect those bots into, in order to poison the AI itself and consume excessive resources on the end of the companies attempting to scrape the data.
Obviously what others have said about firewalls, VPNs, and antivirus still applies; maybe also a rootkit hunter and Linux Malware Detect? I'm still new to this though, so you probably know more about all that than I do. Sorry if I'm stating the obvious.
Not sure if this is overkill but maybe Network Security Toolkit might have some helpful tools as well?
Only expose services internally then use a secure VPN to access your services, this makes your network no more vulnerable in practice than not self hosting. If you need/want to expose something to the internet, make sure you setup your network right. Use a DMZ to separate that service and leverage something like CrowdSec along with good passwords, antivirus, and keep things patched.
Thanks for the CrowdSec tip, I've already got an nginx reverse proxy set up but wasn't aware I could integrate this for extra protection.
How do I check this? I route everything on my internal network only. But how should I make sure its not accessible remotely? I cannot just have these on an air gapped network.
You can run a port scan against your public IP from another network to see what is open. But if you haven’t specifically set something up for external access through port forwarding you are probably fine.
Throw your IP into Shodan.io and see what it comes back with.
The only thing that can get hacked is something that responds on the World Wide Web.
So you limit the scope of what talks to the WWW:
Wireguard VPN will not respond unless the magic keys are correct, it’s ideal security and obscurity. Put everything you can behind it.
For things I want on the WWW without a VPN, I split out two options otherwise.
Caddy checking mTLS certificates that basically allows a device access without extra steps - relying on Caddy to be strong and mTLS to be strong.
Authentik’s proxy check, I think Authelia has this too, but to access a site you hit an Authentik login first.
For both of those, you rely on those services not having 0-day hacks. More likely for these services to stay ahead of the game and/or fix quick than something that doesn’t exist just to do authentication. I run them in containers that are run by independent users and are read-only with capabilities limited, in a VM.
I’d say the Caddy route is more secure than Authentik, but it needs more effort to setup the certificate stuff. Authentik route needs a web browser to log in with. Obviously the WG VPN is primo.
Edit: also tailscale is just managed wireguard, so it has the same benefits as a wireguard vpn with the catch a company has access to your network also now. But really simplifies setup…..
Authelia does have it too, I use that with traefik
The 'immediate attacks' ppl mention is just static background noise. Server / scripts that run trying to find misconfigured, highly out to date or exploitable endpoints/servers/software.
Once you update your software, set up basic brute force protection and maybe regional blocking, you do not have to worry about this kind of attack.
Much more scary are so called 0-Day attacks.
As i already said, no one will waste time on you, there are so much easier targets out there that do not follow those basic rules or actually valuable targets.
There is obviously more that you can do, like hiding everything behind a VPN or advanced thread detections. Also choosing the kind of software you want to run is relevant.
What are you referring to when you say basic brute force protection?
fail2ban mainly, but also things like scaling login delays (some sort of option often built into the software you're running, but just as often not configured by default), or if you're feeling particularly paranoid account locking after too many failures, and in general just not using default, predictable, common usernames or weak passwords, and honestly it's even helped a bit by having slow hardware and throttled network bandwidth.
The goal is to make it so that someone can't run a script that sends 100 million login attempts per second for common or stolen usernames and passwords and your server just helpfully tries them all and obediently tells them none of those worked... until one of them does.
Not only does this encourage them to TRY sending 100 million login attempts per second because your server isn't refusing it, which is a huge waste of bandwidth and resources, it also makes it really likely that they're eventually going to guess one right.
The other answer is already good but I answer more general.
Rate limiting. Do not allow as many requests as your CPU can handle but limit authentication requests. Like a couple requests per second already goes a long way.
if you can do all these things properly, then there shouldn't be too much danger in selfhosting your apps publicly.
It's mostly automated exploit finders looking for low hanging fruit. fail2ban and up to date software is your friend.
Outbound firewall and SMAC protections.
If you compromise my server you'll struggle to phone home without manual intervention, which is good enough to stop botnets.
pFsense + IDS/IPS segmenting network and a robust set of rules would pretty much get you there.
Just use tailscale and don't forward any ports and you'll be fine
There's a lot of technical answers here, but Tailscale is what you want OP. Self-hosting is only a risk if you open ports. Tailscale doesn't require opening any ports.
Alternatively, you could set up your own VPN and forward one port to the VPN. The risk of port forwarding to VPN such as Wireguard or OpenVPN is minimal.
The risk of being attacked applies to those that port forward web traffic so it can be accessed without a VPN by themselves or others. If you don't do that, the risk is very low.
Exactly what I wanted to say + don't install something you don't trust.
Well for one its not as automatic as it sounds. Basic protections will get you far. I have a minecraft server exposed but it only accepts connections from 3 specific places. Remember its the same as ever other real life deterrant, make yourself less of a target than the next guy. It also really helps not having juicy company data on your network. Home networks are way less of a target because you dont have any fine booty to loot.
Have a limited attack surface will reduce exposure.
If, say, the only thing that you're exposing is, oh, say, a Wireguard VPN, then unless there's a misconfiguration or remotely-exploitable bug in Wireguard, then you're fine regarding random people running exploit scanners.
I'm not too worried about stuff like (vanilla) Apache, OpenSSH, Wireguard, stuff like that, the "big" stuff that have a lot of eyes on them. I'd be a lot more dubious about niche stuff that some guy just threw together.
To put perspective on this, you gotta remember that most software that people run isn't run in a sandbox. It can phone home. Games on Steam. If your Web browser has bugs, it's got a lot of sites that might attack it. Plugins for that Web browser. Some guy's open-source project. That's a potential vector too. Sure, some random script kiddy running an exploit scanner is a potential risk, but my bet is that if you look at the actual number of compromises via that route, it's probably rather lower than plain old malware.
It's good to be aware of what you're doing when you expose the Internet to something, but also to keep perspective. A lot of people out there run services exposed to the Internet every day; they need to do so to make things work.
Dealing with this constant threat seems like it would be frightening enough as a full-time job, but this would only be a hobby project for me.
Hobbyist/Enthusiast here. Most of the bots are autonomous. They are deployed and constantly sniff for any little cracks and crevasses in the armor. Don't be fooled tho, they are quite sophisticated. I see some have mentioned fail2ban, and Crowdsec. Both are very capable. UFW (uncomplicated firewall) is also very good. When I set up UFW and my external, standalone pfsense firewall, the way I go about it is to block everything, then step by step, open only the ports that absolutely have to be opened.
Tailscale is also a great overlay vpn along with netbird. Tailscale can also be used as an emergency entry to your server should you lock yourself out, so it has multiple uses. Additionally, since you say you have technical knowledge, Cloudflare Tunnel/Zero Trust pretty much wraps everything up. I know there are a lot of selfhosters dead set against Cloudflare, so that's a decision you have to make. Cloudflare does not require you to open ports or fiddle with NAT. You set it up on your server, Cloudflare takes care of the rest. If you wanted additional protection, you could install Tailscale as an overlay on the server. The caveat to using Cloudflare Tunnel/Zero Trust is that you have to have a domain name that allows you to enter and use Cloudflare's name servers for obvious reasons. You can get a domain anywhere although Cloudflare will sell you one if you wish to go that route.
Since I am the only user of my server, I've taken the additional step of implementing the hosts.allow/hosts.deny TCP Wrapper ACL files (although you can have multiple users with hosts.allow/hosts.deny). If you go this route, make sure you do the hosts.allow, so that when you edit the hosts.deny you'll enter ALL : ALL for a default‑deny stance. For my purposes, multiple users cause multiple issues, so I don't share. :p
Probably should go without saying you should use ssh keys when administrating the server via ssh.
ETA: Hope everyone is safe in the US with this frigid weather.
ETA2: If you decide to go with Cloudflare Tunnel/Zero Trust, I have some notes that seems to have helped several people and I would be happy to share them.
By default your OS is secure. You only have to think about what you expose and how can it be broken in. Disable SSH password authentication. Don't run software that is provided by hobbyists who have no enough security expertise (i. e. random github projects with 1 or 2 contributors and any software that recommends install method curl <something> | sudo bash). Read how to harden the services you run, if it is not described in the documentation — avoid such services. Ensure that services you installed are not running under root. Better use containerized software, but don't run anything as root even inside containers. Whenever possible, prefer software from your distro official repos because maintainers likely take care about safe setup even if upstream developers don't. Automate installing security updates at the day they released.
What doesn't help:
Yikes, lot's of bad advice in this thread.
My advice: Go develop an actual threat model and find and implement mitigations to the threats you've identified.
If you can't do that, that's totally okay; it's a skill that takes a lot of time and effort to learn and is well-compensated in the industry.
You will need to pay for it. Either through an individual assessment by someone who knows what they're doing, managed hosting services where the hoster is contractually liable and has implemented such measures, by risking becoming part of a botnet or by not hosting in a world-public manner.
My recommendations:
Yes...yet another comment. LOL Something you should do from the very start is take notes of everything you do on the server. I use Notepad++ for the rough draft while I'm setting something up. Copy/paste, write out commands, notations, what this or that does. Take prolific notes. I really can't stress that enough. That way, if you need to back out of something, or if the wheels fall off, you can go right back to your notes. Don't be lulled into the idea that you will be able to remember every last keystroke you've made. That rarely happens. Take notes.
When I have successfully deployed whatever I'm working on, then I go back, take my notes, clean them up, and place them in Obsidian and make backups of them.
Makin notes is good for sonething very simple. It's better to automate deployment with salt, ansible or something similar. A bit more effort at first setup, much easier restoration. Self-documented.
In another life I worked as a Mech Eng for a Contractor firm. The rule was 'If you didn't write it down, it didn't happen'. Over the years, that has bled into my personal life as well. I hear what you're saying, and from what I've digested regarding Ansible, it is a quite powerful and capable package. However, let's let OP stand up his first server. He's already stressed about not being a botnet victim. So, perhaps some rudimentary steps are in order. Then you can blow his mind with Ansible. LOL
What are you wanting to host? It’s pretty simple to not get hacked.
I don't think you're in any danger if you are truly a human.
Your devices, OTOH...
I admit nothing.
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:
| Fewer Letters | More Letters |
|---|---|
| Git | Popular version control system, primarily for code |
| HTTP | Hypertext Transfer Protocol, the Web |
| IP | Internet Protocol |
| NAS | Network-Attached Storage |
| NAT | Network Address Translation |
| SSH | Secure Shell for remote terminal access |
| TCP | Transmission Control Protocol, most often over IP |
| VPN | Virtual Private Network |
| VPS | Virtual Private Server (opposed to shared hosting) |
| nginx | Popular HTTP server |
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I have often wondered since our friendly and helpful bot arrived, what would happen if we made a thread where everyone used as many acronyms as possible in our comments. It's actually one of the more cooler bots I've seen in a while. Especially for new arrivals who don't spreken ze Lingley. Crackin' iidea.
They don't have to succeed once.
Use antivirus and other endpoint security measures. Rotate your passwords and keys. Use Everything as Code, and for goodness sake make backups.
If you find yourself compromised, rotate and burn the keys, wipe and redeploy.
I have snort running on my firewall monitoring my LAN port. Does it help? No idea. Does it make me feel good because it blocks stuff? Yup. It does enforce IP blacklists from a feed, so it’s a start.
Keeping an loose eye on things and watching for extra network traffic, cpu, ram usage is what I do.
I run the Suricata package in pFsense which I would say is kissing cousins to Snort. It actually does work very well. In fact, on occasion, too well. I'd rather that that just having my jimmy hanging out in traffic. I also employ the pfblockerng's massive feed lists, and Tailscale packages on the standalone pFsense firewall, and a VPN on all devices. Network so tight they call it virgin. LOL Not really, but I tend to go a bit overboard on security measures.
Tailscale on everything