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Just hit 100 blocked login attempts on my home server in a month
I was checking the logs on my little home server last night, the one I use for personal projects... and I saw the counter for failed SSH login attempts. It was at 103 for the past 30 days. It kind of stopped me for a second because I never really thought my setup was a big target. Most of them were bots just trying common usernames like 'admin' or 'root' with simple passwords. It made me realize that even a small, private server is constantly getting scanned by automated scripts. I had set up key-based auth and turned off password logins a while back, which is why none of them got in... but seeing that number made it feel real. It's not a 'maybe' thing, it's a constant background noise of people trying to get in. Has anyone else seen a jump in these automated scans lately, or is it just me?
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dianab686mo ago
Honestly, that's just the normal hum of the internet these days... my little box gets poked at all the time too. If you've got key auth on and passwords off, those attempts are just noise, like junk mail. It feels weird to see the number, but it doesn't really mean you're a target... it's just bots sweeping the whole neighborhood.
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carr.willow6mo ago
Totally get what you mean about the noise. My logs look the same, just endless bots trying default passwords. It's creepy but you're right, it's not personal. Makes you realize how much junk traffic is out there. Do you ever check where those login tries are coming from?
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craig.parker5mo ago
My home server log showed over 2,000 ssh attempts last month from random IPs. I set up fail2ban to automatically block an IP after three failed tries, which cleaned up the noise a ton. It's free and pretty easy to configure, just takes a few minutes. That constant background scan is annoying but tools like that make it manageable.
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