Moving ports does help. It is not a sure thing but when used in conjunction with other security mechanism can help get rid the of the low hanging fruit of scriptkiddies and automated scans.
But scriptkiddies and automated scans are not a security threat. If they were a legitimate threat to your server, you have bigger problems.
All it does is reduce log chatter.
Anyone actually wanting in would port scan, then try and connect to each port, and quickly identify an SSH port
It defends against the lowest level of automation. And if that is a legit threat in your model, you are going to have a bad time.
It’s just going to trip you up at some point
Still does nothing when scanning the entire ipv4 address space achievable so quickly. You can also use services like shodan to find vulnerable services on any ports.
Use SSH keys, stay upgraded. Make management services (SSH, RDP, admin services) accessible only via VPN (WireGuard). Only expose 80 and 443 to the internet, if necessary.
Move services away from known ports and don’t use ports that end with well known port numbers (22,80,443).
Moving ssh from 22 to 2222 or 443 to 10443 does nothing. You have ~65000 ports. Pick something random like 6744 or 2458
Changing ports does nothing except reduced log chatter.
Security through obscurity is not security
Moving ports does help. It is not a sure thing but when used in conjunction with other security mechanism can help get rid the of the low hanging fruit of scriptkiddies and automated scans.
But scriptkiddies and automated scans are not a security threat. If they were a legitimate threat to your server, you have bigger problems.
All it does is reduce log chatter.
Anyone actually wanting in would port scan, then try and connect to each port, and quickly identify an SSH port
Automated attacks are a huge threat. Changing defaults shouldn’t be your only security practice but it can significantly help defend a network.
Security by obscurity is no security.
It is if you are defending against automation.
It defends against the lowest level of automation. And if that is a legit threat in your model, you are going to have a bad time.
It’s just going to trip you up at some point
I’m not saying it should be your only defense. I’m saying that changing defaults is a good idea for secure systems.
For instance, you should change the default WiFi password on your router.
Yes, because a password is security
So is changing the port. It won’t do a lot in terms of security but it will help a tiny bit
It breaks automation. Same thing for changing any default. Change default names, directories and anything else that’s to predictable
Still does nothing when scanning the entire ipv4 address space achievable so quickly. You can also use services like shodan to find vulnerable services on any ports.
Use SSH keys, stay upgraded. Make management services (SSH, RDP, admin services) accessible only via VPN (WireGuard). Only expose 80 and 443 to the internet, if necessary.
Just don’t port forward ssh. There is 0 reason to in 99.99% of home cases