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Why disable ssh login with root on a server if I only log in with keys, not password?
(sh.itjust.works)
this post was submitted on 12 Apr 2025
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It's just another way of minimizing your attack surface. It's pretty much the same as hiding behind a barrier when being shot at, you stick yourself out as little as possible.
In the same way it also helps to change your SSH port to somewhere in the high numbers like 38265. This is anecdotal of course, but the amount of attacks on SSH went down by literally 99% by just changing the port like that
Then you accept only keys, you lock down root (so the username must be guessed as well) and yeah, you're safe.
Not just anecdotal. The default SSH port gets hit by ridiculous numbers of bots because a lot of people don't bother to change it. This will be true no matter what machine you're on. Hell, your desktop at home has probably been scanned quite a few times even if all you do is watch porn on it