Hello I am wondering if there is increased network/packet security by connecting to a server over ssh through a VPN hosted by that same server as opposed to without first tunneling by VPN. I imagine with or without tunneling through a VPN there would be latency/speed differences too?
afaik accessing your SSH over Wireguard while making SSH only listen on local can help mitigate DOS attacks, as Wireguard, opposed to many other protocols, is silent by default, meaning an attacker won’t see if you have a Server listening for incoming connections or if they are screaming into the void
But wouldn’t the port being open alert anyone who looks for that? Network security is not my specialty but I believe I have read that people can ping/scan ip addresses easily and quickly to determine if any ports are open / forwarded, so if Wireguard was used or any VPN software, they could pick up on that as an attack vector?
Wireguard uses UDP.
Wireguard also strives to be “silent” for bad traffic/connection attempts. I’ve tried a cursory look to find more information on it, but nothing that explains it simply.
Either way it doesn’t turn up on port scans.
But the router must forward the port to allow the VPN to be utilized , meaning that port being forwarded can be scanned/detected i thought?
It depends on how the router responds to other non-forwarded ports. For UDP an open port with no response is the same as a dropped packet. A scanner will only know if the device sends an ICMP response back to indicate that it is closed.