I use practical security measures that match my level of exposure and don’t severely limit my convienience.

If your lab isn’t exposed directly to the internet, at the very least update your servers from time to time, use a string root (admin users as well) password. That’s more than enough.

If your lab is exposed, the same applies but update more often. Use SSH keys.

Don’t go overboard - the majority of security incidents are from lack of basic security