Today, the best-known server-management control panels include cPanel and Plesk. We have already published a blog comparing them. If you are an experienced system administrator, managing a dedicated server may be straightforward. If you are new to this field, however, many of the technical details can be difficult to learn at once. In that case, using a server-management panel such as cPanel or Plesk can make administration, monitoring and security tasks easier.
If an attacker compromises your server or causes it to become unavailable, you may lose control over important services. To reduce that risk, Plesk recommends several server-management practices.
1. ModSecurity
A common source of web-server compromise is a vulnerable CMS, plugin or web application. Platforms such as WordPress and Joomla must be kept secure and updated. System administrators can use ModSecurity as an additional Web Application Firewall layer on the server.
Installing ModSecurity is a routine task in many hosting environments and can be handled through Plesk. In the control panel, open the server-management tools, navigate to updates/components and install the ModSecurity Web Application Firewall component for the relevant web server.
Configuration is also important. In Plesk, open Tools & Settings and then the Web Application Firewall (ModSecurity) settings. Select an appropriate rule set and mode for your production environment, keep the rule set updated, and test changes carefully to avoid unnecessary false positives.
2. Let's Encrypt
If your website still operates only over HTTP, you can use Let's Encrypt to issue an SSL/TLS certificate and enable HTTPS. Let's Encrypt certificates are free and are normally renewed automatically before expiration when the server is configured correctly.
3. Fail2Ban
Fail2Ban scans log files and can temporarily block suspicious IP addresses. It strengthens firewall protection by applying predefined filters and jails. Common protections include SSH login monitoring, authentication log scanning, Postfix-related rules and ModSecurity-related events.
4. Mail-server settings
Correct mail-server configuration is especially important for reducing spam and abuse. You can apply outgoing-mail limits, restrict unauthorized mail-sending methods and use DNS-based reputation or block lists where appropriate. Review Plesk's current mail-server documentation for the settings that match your operating system and mail stack.
5. Firewalls
Do not assume that every firewall component is automatically installed or enabled in a new control-panel environment. Installing and configuring an appropriate firewall should be one of the first infrastructure-security tasks. Confirm that required ports are allowed, unnecessary services are restricted and administrative access is limited.
6. Backups
A reliable backup system is one of the most important tools available to an administrator. If you want to be able to recover a website or server after an error, compromise or configuration problem, create backups regularly and test that restoration works. This gives you a recovery point if an extension, component or configuration change causes unexpected problems.