Leaving root access enabled by default can pose significant security risks. It’s much more secure to disable root access and instead use sudo within another SSH account to execute root-level commands. Follow these simple steps to disable root SSH access on your Linux server.

1. Log in to your server:

Use your terminal client to log into your server with your SSH credentials.

2. Edit the SSH Configuration File:

Open the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file using a text editor:

sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

3. Find the PermitRootLogin Directive:

Scroll down or search to find the line #PermitRootLogin.

4. Disable Root Login:

Remove the # symbol, change the value to no, then save and exit the file.

5. Restart the SSH Service:

Restart the SSH service to apply the changes:

sudo service sshd restart

This will disable root SSH access, improving the security of your server.