Security News > 2021 > February > Linux 101: How to remove legacy communication services
To keep your Linux servers and desktops as secure as possible, you should check for legacy communication services.
One thing you can do with Linux is remove the legacy communications services that can be installed by default, even though they are never used.
Services like xinet, nis, tftp, tftpd-hpa, telnet, and rsh are not only unnecessary, they can pose security risks to your system.
The only hiccup you might experience is if you have legacy applications installed that depend on one or more of these services.
If you find your Linux distribution of choice doesn't include those services then congratulations, you've been a bit more secure all along.
I've found many modern distributions do not ship with these services installed, but if you happen to either be running an older distribution or one that does ship with those services, you should remove them immediately.