Yeah, going on and on about how to lock down a single protocol like ssh would be a long and fun discussion but, in another forum or time.

I actually looked at denyhosts before the host files; sometimes I really learn things backwards but at least I learn them.

The issue I had was that the denyhosts build I was looking at required the python (or whichever language it was) one version behind what the rest of my system required and wouldn't work with the newer version. I think it's time I check back in with the project sight and confirm if it's been updated.

I also hate to use a non-package install with a package based system unless there's no other way but that's just me keeping things clean.