I am new to virtual server rental services. Once the hosting provider activates my clean VPS, what are the very first security steps I must take to protect it from automated hacker attacks?
The absolute first thing you must do is stop using the root account for daily tasks. Log in, create a new user with sudo privileges, and then disable root login entirely in your SSH configuration. Next, switch your SSH port from the default 22 to a random number (like 2284)—this instantly stops 99% of automated brute-force bots from finding your server. Finally, install Fail2ban to automatically block IPs that show suspicious login attempts, and set up a basic UFW firewall to block all unused ports. If you are looking for a reliable platform that deploys secure, clean server instances instantly with excellent privacy, check out this service (https://hosting-bitcoin.com/). They offer powerful crypto VPS options that give you full root access to set up your security exactly how you want it right from the start.
Thanks, changing the SSH port sounds easy enough! Is it safe to use standard password authentication for the new user, or should I use keys?
Definitely switch to SSH keys. Brute-forcing a strong cryptographic key pair is practically impossible, making your server infinitely more secure.