Advice please on best security setup for Plex

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Cloister56
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Advice please on best security setup for Plex

Post by Cloister56 »

Hello All,

I am trying to find the best compromise on accessibility and access for running Plex on my QNAP TS-453Be.
The only remote access to my NAS ideally should be through Plex. I have a few friends who access my library remotely.
I never access my NAS settings from anywhere except a pc on the same network as the NAS.
Unfortunately I have had unknown attempts to login to my NAS via the admin account.
I have disabled the admin account but it does trouble me that the attempts continue. As I type there is a particularly persistent attack in process with multiple IP's every few minutes.

So the steps I have tried:
I disabled Upnp on my Netgear router hoping this would stop the attacks at that step but this disrupts Plex remote access.

I tried enabling automatic blocking on repeat IP attempts on the NAS but this has lead to me being locked out and needing to reset the NAS to gain access on a couple of occasions.
I'm not sure why this happens as my password and login is prepopulated in windows and when I access the NAS so I'm not getting it wrong but it still happens.
I add IP's when I see them but there have been about 50 different IP's this attack.

I tried just having a white list with my PC's IP as the only one allowed. This stops the attacks (or at least my NAS doesn't tell me they are happening) but this also prevents anyone else using Plex to access my library.

I have a few ideas but I am not sure which is the best or if there is another option.
1) Get my friends to let me know their IP's and add them to the white list. This seems safe but would prevent any roaming Plex access, not an issue in the current climate but a nice feature to have in the future.
2) Do nothing, the admin account is disabled and I have a strong password which I rotate on the actually account. But this worries me it still going on and could they access another way.

If anyone could share how they setup their security or if there are any other steps I can take it would be much appreciated. I know the ideal would be to kill these attacks at the router level, if you can help with suggestions on that but maintaining the functionality of Plex that would be great. I realise that might require asking for help over on the netgear forum but I thought I'd ask here first.
dwight1379
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Re: Advice please on best security setup for Plex

Post by dwight1379 »

Hi Cloister
Would a private VPN group with plex set up behind it be the best option, as businesses have. Haven't myself as I don't share my plex.
Regards.
Happy Owner of a TS-H973AX :)
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peelos
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Re: Advice please on best security setup for Plex

Post by peelos »

Disable UPNP and only open the port for plex..
NAS: TVS-1282-i7-7700-40G / 4 x 500GB SSD 2.5" RAID 10 / 2 x 500GB M.2 SSD / 8 x 12TB WD Whites 3.5" RAID 6 / Noctua L9x65 / 3 x 80mm PWM Noctua fans / Corsair 600W PSU / Asus Turbo GTX 1060 6GB GPU
Software: Plex Media Server / Transmission / Sonarr / Radarr / Bazarr / Jackett / Tautulli / Home Assistant / Resilio Sync / Python / NetData / SortMyQPKGs
pfSense Firewall / OpenVPN Server: QOTOM Fanless Mini PC / Core i5 / 8GB RAM / 128GB SSD / 4 Gigabit NICs / AES-NI
Wireless Routers: 2 x Netgear AC1900 R7000 Nighthawk / 1 x Netgear AC3200 R8000 Nighthawk / FreshTomato Firmware
Cloister56
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Joined: Tue Mar 23, 2021 5:11 pm

Re: Advice please on best security setup for Plex

Post by Cloister56 »

Cheers I have disable UPnP and set up one port for Plex. Always had trouble with it dropping connection on my old router but this seems stable and the attacks have stopped. Thank you very much.
I kind of assumed UPnP made connections out easy not connections in but you live and learn.
I will have a look into the VPN but my friends are a little more, "just make it work please" so it may be beyond them.

Thank you both for the help.
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