What is Win2ban?
Win2ban is an open source intrusion prevention software framework for Linux-based servers. It works by scanning log files for signs of abuse or malicious activity, and blocking repeat offenders via firewall rules.
Some key features of win2ban include:
- Monitoring services such as SSH, Apache, Postfix, etc. for signs of brute force attacks, botnets, web scraping, and more
- Blocking IP addresses that show malicious signs in logs via iptables firewall rules
- Support for regex rules to define malicious signs in logs
- Email alerts when bans are made
- Simple configuration through .conf files
- Daemon service for continuous monitoring
Win2ban is useful for protecting against brute force attacks on services like SSH, attacks on web applications like comment spam or web scraping, stopping reconnaissance probes for vulnerabilities, and more. It serves as a simple yet effective layer of intrusion prevention by dynamically managing firewall rules when malicious activity is detected.
Win2ban runs on nearly all distributions of Linux, is lightweight, and integrates smoothly with the existing syslog and firewall capabilities of Linux systems. It is highly customizable through its configuration files for monitoring any log file or service.
Fail2ban, RdpGuard, IPBanPro, LF Intrusion Detection, AiP Defense, Cyberarms Intrusion Detection and Defense, SpyLog, Denyhosts, SSHGuard, HeatShield, Pyruse, IPQ BDB are some alternatives to Win2ban.