How to Secure Your Self-Hosted Applications

When you self-host, security is your responsibility. But with the right practices, a self-hosted setup can be more secure than many SaaS platforms. Here is our checklist.

1. Reverse Proxy with SSL

Every application should sit behind a reverse proxy (we use Nginx Proxy Manager) that handles SSL termination. Let us Encrypt provides free certificates that auto-renew. Never expose applications directly to the internet without HTTPS.

2. Authentication Gateway

Instead of managing logins per application, use a single sign-on gateway like Authelia. It sits in front of all your apps, provides two-factor authentication, and blocks unauthorized access before requests reach your applications.

3. Intrusion Detection

CrowdSec monitors your logs in real-time and automatically bans malicious IPs. It is lightweight, community-powered, and catches attack patterns that static firewall rules miss.

4. Encrypted Backups

Backups must be encrypted both in transit and at rest. We use client-side encryption before backing up to off-site storage, so even if the backup provider is compromised, your data is unreadable.

5. Regular Updates

The number one cause of self-hosted breaches is unpatched software. We monitor security advisories for every application in your stack and apply patches within 24 hours of release after testing in a staging environment.

6. Network Segmentation

Not every application needs to talk to every other application. We segment your network so that a compromise in one app does not give access to everything. Firewalls, VLANs, and application-level isolation keep breaches contained.

7. Monitoring and Alerting

Uptime Kuma monitors every service and alerts us (and you) the moment something goes wrong. We monitor not just uptime, but also unusual traffic patterns, failed login attempts, and resource spikes that could indicate an attack.

VPS1 builds security into every deployment from day one. Get in touch if you want a security audit of your current setup.