A first-hour security checklist for a new VPS

Your VPS arrives with full root access, which means the security of everything on top of the OS is in your hands. Run through this shortly after provisioning.

1. Update the system. Apply all available package updates before you expose any service.
2. Lock down SSH. Switch to key-based authentication, disable password login and, ideally, disable direct root SSH in favour of a sudo user.
3. Configure the firewall. Use the panel's built-in firewall management to allow only the ports you actually need — typically SSH plus whatever your service listens on — and deny the rest.
4. Set up your own OS firewall too (ufw/nftables or the Windows firewall) for defence in depth.
5. Create a non-root working account and use sudo rather than living as root.
6. Turn on automatic security updates where your distribution supports it.
7. Check your backups. Free backups are included — confirm they're running so you have a restore point.
8. Keep NoVNC in mind. If you ever lock yourself out over the network, the NoVNC web console gives you out-of-band access to fix it.

DDoS protection is already included at the network edge, but that protects availability — it doesn't harden the software you install. This checklist covers the rest.