Securing Your Ubuntu Environment: Best Practices

Enforce strong Linux password policies by installing libpwquality, editing the policy file to set minimum length and class requirements, and enabling dictionary checks to resist common passwords.

Enable the screen lock on Ubuntu to auto-lock when you step away, protecting your data from unauthorized access. Set the timeout to suit your use case in display privacy settings.

Enable automatic screen lock on Ubuntu to protect your session when you step away. Adjust the time before locking in display privacy settings to require a password.

Install and configure UFW on Ubuntu via the terminal, set a default deny for incoming and outgoing traffic, then enable selective ports 80, 443, and 53 for web access.

Learn to securely install software on Ubuntu using the graphical app store, apt-get, or snap, and avoid insecure web downloads of deb, tar, or snap files.

Learn to secure Ubuntu by identifying and disabling unnecessary services with systemctl, stopping temporarily and disabling permanently to reduce the attack surface from Bluetooth, printers, remote desktop, and web servers.

Run a Linux audit to automatically scan your system for misconfigurations, services, firewall status, and malware, then review the overall security score to identify improvements.

Remove unused software to free disk space and improve security. List apt and snap packages with dpkg --list and snap list, then remove with sudo apt get remove.

Block ads to reduce malware risk in web browsers by installing and enabling the uBlock Origin extension, and understand how ads can spread malware.

Learn to inspect snap permissions with snap connections, review what a snap like Firefox can access—home directory, camera, audio, and settings—and understand the limited ability to disable them.

Protect data by recognizing disk lifespans and use zip or cloud backups, then apply the three to one strategy with three backups in different locations.