The Linux packet filter provides an easy way to protect against unwanted network intrusions. Often referred to simply as “iptables“, it is a basic firewall built into the Linux kernel. Iptables is most useful, perhaps, on those servers most susceptible to attack, such as LAMP systems, content management servers and blogging platforms like WordPress, especially where they are Internet facing.

Ipset is a fairly recent addition to Linux, having been introduced into kernel version 2.6.32. This means it is supported in Debian 7 and 8, as well as Red Hat 6 onwards. In short, ipset allows a large number of IP addresses to be blocked in an efficient way, as demonstrated below. Continue reading →