Cybersecurity Basics Every Founder Should Know

How can I protect my online business with basic cybersecurity principles?

Cybersecurity Basics Every Founder Should Understand — This phrase should be the starting point for every founder who wants to take their startup or business online. Secure, reliable and scalable In today's world where services have expanded from cloud servers and VPS to GPU services, databases, and CI/CD hosting, the lack of basic security principles can lead to Financial damage, Loss of customer trust And even Business collapse Be.

Why these fundamentals are crucial for founders

Founders are usually focused on growth and customer acquisition, but security must go hand in hand with growth. Threats include intrusions, DDoS attacks, data leaks, internal sabotage, and configuration errors.

A basic security program that covers the following principles will significantly reduce risk:

• Protecting digital assets and access keys (SSH keys, API keys, secrets)
• Ensuring service availability (DDoS protection, CDN, BGP)
• Protecting users' privacy and compliance with laws
• Preparing for Incident Rapid Response (IR)

Threat Assessment and Threat Modeling

Before setting up firewalls, you need to know what you are protecting and who could pose a threat.

Asset identification

List: Cloud servers, VPSs, GPU servers, databases, Docker images, certificates (SSL), CI/CD secrets, and user data.

Threat actors

Script kiddies, financial hackers, competitors, disgruntled employees, and government agents.

Attack scenarios

• Ransomware attack on storage servers
• Exposing API keys in a public Git repository
• DDoS attacks on web services and gaming servers
• SQL and XSS Injection on Websites (Important for WordPress Admins)

Basic Security Controls Every Founder Should Know

This section lists practical tools and configurations so you can build a solid security foundation faster and with less risk.

Strong authentication and access management

• Enabling MFA (2FA) For all accounts (cloud platform, hosting control panel, email).
• Principles of least privilege: Grant permissions based on actual need.
• Manage keys and secrets with Vault (HashiCorp) Or internal secrets management services GitLab/GitHub Actions.

SSH and server access

Minimal configuration for SSH:

/etc/ssh/sshd_config
PermitRootLogin no
PasswordAuthentication no
AllowUsers deploy@your-ip

And using fail2ban to protect against brute-force attacks:

sudo apt install fail2ban
sudo systemctl enable --now fail2ban

Also SSH Agent Forwarding Use with caution and remove keys from public devices.

Firewall and network access control

For Linux servers, sample UFW configuration:

sudo ufw default deny incoming
sudo ufw default allow outgoing
sudo ufw allow 2222/tcp
sudo ufw allow 80,443/tcp
sudo ufw enable

In sensitive environments (e.g., trading VPS or gaming VPS), it is recommended to restrict access to specific IPs and use a VPN for management access.

Update and manage patches

Have a regular OS and package update schedule (apt, yum). In production environments, use tested channels and schedule maintenance.

Backup and Recovery

Strategy 3-2-1: Three copies of the data, on two different media, and one off-site copy.

rsync -avz --delete /var/www/ user@backup-server:/backups/site/

Use cloud snapshots, rsync, and regular restore tests.

Cryptography and certificates

Enforcing HTTPS with trusted certificates (Let's Encrypt or commercial certificate):

sudo apt install certbot
sudo certbot --nginx -d example.com -d www.example.com

Encryption of sensitive data in mode at-rest and in the transfer (in transit) must be applied.

DDoS protection and WAF

Using a CDN to reduce ping and attract traffic (important for game users and traders who want low ping).

Network Anti-DDoS services and anti-DDoS servers for critical applications and WAF installation (e.g. ModSecurity) or using a managed WAF is recommended.

Application Security and Web Content Management (Useful for WordPress Administrators)

Secure WordPress

• Always keep your core, theme, and plugins up to date.
• Using a security plugin, limiting login attempts, and changing the default login path (/wp-admin).
• Regularly scan files and use Managed Hosting services or hosting with CDN and WAF along with VPS.

Example: Limiting the number of login attempts with fail2ban for wp-login.php:

[Definition]
failregex = ^<HOST> .* "POST /wp-login.php

Docker image management and CI/CD

• Use official, scanned base images.
• Removing secrets from Dockerfiles and using docker secret Or HashiCorp Vault:

echo "mysecret" | docker secret create db_password -

Example of resource limits in docker-compose:

deploy:
  resources:
    limits:
      cpus: '0.50'
      memory: 512M

Scanning images with tools such as Claire Or Trivia Recommended before publication.

Monitoring, logging and incident response

Active monitoring and logging are the foundation of any secure program. Metrics, logs, and alerts should be defined and maintained centrally.

Basic monitoring

Installing monitoring tools (Prometheus + Grafana or cloud monitoring services) for monitoring CPU, memory, disk, latency, and errors.

Defining alerts for unusual behaviors is crucial.

Collecting and analyzing logs

For server: Enable auditd and syslog. Use ELK or Loki to collect logs.

Example command to view open ports:

ss -tulnp

Setting logrotate It is necessary to prevent the disk from filling up.

Incident Response Plan (IR)

Having playbooks for common scenarios: intrusion, DDoS, data leaks.

Steps: Isolate, collect evidence, restore from backup, notify stakeholders, and investigate root cause.

Network and Locations — Choosing the Right Location for Latency, Regulatory, and Cost

For services like trading, gaming, or GPU Cloud VPS, the choice of data center location has a direct impact on ping and legal compliance.

• For traders: Choose locations close to exchanges or liquidity providers.
• For gamers: Locations with the lowest ping and local CDN are more suitable.
• For AI and rendering: Choose locations with access to GPU servers and high bandwidth.

Our company has more than 85 global locations Supports data center selection based on ping, cost, and local regulations. Also, the network BGP And our CDN helps optimize availability and speed.

Advanced tips for technical founders and architects

Security at the cloud infrastructure level

• Use of VPC, private subnets, proper routing, and security groups.
• Separating environments (prod, staging, dev) and using separate accounts to reduce blast radius.

KMS encryption and key management

It is recommended to use key management services for database and object storage encryption.

Network security check with penetration testing and automated scanning

Performing weekly scans with tools such as Nmap, OpenVAS And performing periodic penetration testing is an important part of a security program.

SLA, Redundancy and Disaster Recovery

Defining RPO and RTO for critical services, using multiple data centers, and replication for fault tolerance are essential.

Practical Security Checklist (Printable)

• MFA Enabled for all accounts.
• Have automated and tested backups (snapshots + offsite).
• Centralized logs and proper maintenance (minimum 90 days).
• SSH connections with public key and PasswordAuthentication=no.
• Firewall (UFW/iptables) and fail2ban are enabled.
• Mandatory HTTPS with a valid certificate.
• Docker images are scanned and secrets are not in the code.
• WAF and CDN are active on the service delivery layer.
• Anti-DDoS service is enabled for sensitive services.
• The IR plan and emergency calls are clear.

Company's proposed services for fast and secure implementation

To implement the fastest and most secure infrastructure, the following services can be useful:

• More than 85 global locations To reduce latency and regional adaptation.
• High-performance cloud server and dedicated machines (Compute servers).
• Graphics server (GPU) for AI tasks, rendering, and model training.
• VPS for trading and gaming with low ping and special configuration.
• Anti-DDoS server and CDN included with the network BGP For high availability.
• GitLab hosting, managed databases, and backup solutions.
• Managed security services including WAF, security scanning, and implementation consulting.

Summary and Conclusion

Cybersecurity Basics Every Founder Should Understand — Implementing a few basic principles can mean the difference between secure growth and a costly incident. Maintaining basic controls, planning for backups, monitoring, and having an incident response plan can mitigate major risks.

If you need to review plans, security consulting, or design a secure and scalable architecture, you can use the company's multiple services and locations to adapt to your needs and reduce latency.

Frequently Asked Questions