How do I protect my SSH key?

How do I protect my SSH key?

6 SSH Key Security Best Practices

1. Discover all SSH Keys and Bring Under Active Management.
2. Ensure SSH Keys Are Associated With a Single Individual.
3. Enforce Minimal Levels of User Rights Through PoLP.
4. Stay Attentive to SSH Key Rotation.
5. Eliminate Hardcoded SSH Keys.
6. Audit All Privileged Session Activity.

What is an SSH public key?

SSH public key authentication relies on asymmetric cryptographic algorithms that generate a pair of separate keys (a key pair), one “private” and the other “public”. You keep the private key a secret and store it on the computer you use to connect to the remote system.

How do I make my private key protected?

A CA’s private key should be stored in hardware-based protection, such as a Hardware Security Module (HSM). This provides tamper-resistant secure storage. A Private key for an end entity could be stored in a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip or a USB tamper-resistant security token.

Where should I save my private SSH key?

ssh/id_rsa and the public key is stored in ~/. ssh/id_rsa. pub . The private key should only be kept on your local system and should be encrypted using a passphrase that is at least as strong as any password you would normally use.

What does it mean to have a public key for SSH?

SSH public-key authentication uses asymmetric cryptographic algorithms to generate two key files – one “private” and the other “public”. The private key files are the equivalent of a password, and should stay protected under all circumstances. If someone acquires your private key, they can log in as you to any SSH server you have access to.

How to transfer SSH public key to remote host?

The -l option lists the fingerprint, and the -v option adds the ASCII art. If password authentication is currently enabled, then the easiest way to transfer the public key to the remote host is with the ssh-copy-id command. If you used the default name for the key all you need to specify is the remote user and host:

How is the passphrase used in SSH authentication?

During authentication the user is prompted for the passphrase, which is used along with the presence of the private key on the SSH client to authenticate the user. Public keys have specific ACL requirements that, on Windows, equate to only allowing access to administrators and System.

When do I need passwordless SSH key pairs?

Some utilities that need to automatically transfer files between systems need a passwordless method to authenticate. The kdump utility, when configured to dump the kernel to a remote system using SSH, is one example. Another common use is to generate a key pair for a script that is designed to run unattended, such as from a cron job.