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How do I harden Nginx or Apache for production security?

Asked on Oct 01, 2025

Answer

To harden Nginx or Apache for production security, you should focus on configuring HTTPS, setting up strong encryption, and using security headers to protect your web server.

<!-- BEGIN COPY / PASTE -->
    # Example for Nginx
    server {
      listen 443 ssl;
      ssl_certificate /path/to/cert.pem;
      ssl_certificate_key /path/to/key.pem;
      ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
      ssl_ciphers 'ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384';
      add_header X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff";
      add_header X-Frame-Options "DENY";
      add_header X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block";
    }

    # Example for Apache
    <VirtualHost *:443>
      SSLEngine on
      SSLCertificateFile /path/to/cert.pem
      SSLCertificateKeyFile /path/to/key.pem
      SSLProtocol all -SSLv3 -TLSv1 -TLSv1.1
      SSLCipherSuite HIGH:!aNULL:!MD5
      Header always set X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff"
      Header always set X-Frame-Options "DENY"
      Header always set X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block"
    </VirtualHost>
    <!-- END COPY / PASTE -->

Additional Comment:

Ensure that only strong TLS protocols (TLSv1.2 and TLSv1.3) are enabled to prevent downgrade attacks.
Use modern cipher suites that provide forward secrecy and avoid deprecated ones.
Security headers like X-Content-Type-Options, X-Frame-Options, and X-XSS-Protection help mitigate common web vulnerabilities.
Regularly update your server software to patch known vulnerabilities.

✅ Answered with Security best practices.

Ask any question about Website Security here... and get an instant response.

How do I harden Nginx or Apache for production security?

Asked on Oct 01, 2025

Answer

Additional Comment:

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