Should you password protect SSH keys?

Everyone recommends that you protect your private key with a passphrase (otherwise anybody who steals the file from you can log into everything you have access to). If you leave the passphrase blank, the key is not encrypted.

What is a password protected SSH key?

The passphrase protects you because if someone manages to obtain a copy of your private key, they won’t be able to use it unless they also know your passphrase. It’s always difficult to think up a new password. Especially one that’s easy for you to remember, but hard for someone else to guess.

How do I use a password protected SSH key in github?

When you first connect to github using your newly added key you will be prompted with a dialog box to add the password for your SSH key to your keychain. Enter the password for your keychain in this prompt, it should be the same as your computer login password (unless you specifically changed it).

How do I SSH with a password instead of a key?

For Windows users to setup putty To summarize what others have said, setting up SSH keys is easy and invaluable. Just hit enter where noted and enter a passphrase when prompted – ideally this is different from your regular login password on both the current host and the ones you will be SSHing to.

Is SSH keys are changed on regular basis?

Stay Attentive to SSH Key Rotation Implement diligent SSH Key rotation — force users to generate keys on a regular basis and disallow use of the same passphrases across multiple accounts or iterations. These actions help protect the organization from password re-use attacks.

Is passphrase same as password?

Answer. A password is a short character set of mixed digits. A passphrase is a longer string of text that makes up a phrase or sentence.

How do I recover my SSH password?

Recovering your SSH key passphrase

In Finder, search for the Keychain Access app.
In Keychain Access, search for SSH.
Double click on the entry for your SSH key to open a new dialog box.
In the lower-left corner, select Show password.
You’ll be prompted for your administrative password.
Your password will be revealed.

Why are SSH keys more secure than passwords?

Pros of SSH key authentication The first pro is that SSH keys are more difficult to hack than passwords and thus are more secure. SSH keys can be up to 4096 bits in length, making them long, complex, and difficult to brute-force hack. And unlike passwords, your private SSH key isn’t sent to the server.

Where do I find my SSH key?

Generating an SSH key

Open the PuTTYgen program.
For Type of key to generate, select SSH-2 RSA.
Click the Generate button.
Move your mouse in the area below the progress bar.
Type a passphrase in the Key passphrase field.
Click the Save private key button to save the private key.

What should I do if my SSH password is not working?

You should not get asked for your password, but instead logged straight in with the key. If it’s not working, check that your private key is unlocked at your SSH Agent and try again. With SSH key authentication configured and tested, you can disable password authentication for SSH all together to prevent brute-forcing.

How can I protect my SSH private key?

Which is safer SSH password or public key?

However, there is another option that is safer and less cumbersome then keying in your password every time you want to connect to your remote server, which is to authenticate using SSH public key on the said SSH server. What is SSH public key authentication and how do they work?

How do I generate a new SSH password?

The program will prompt for the file containing the private key, for the old passphrase, and twice for the new passphrase. -f filename Specifies the filename of the key file. Use the -p option to ssh-keygen. This allows you to change the password rather than generate a new key. The required password will be the new password.

Should you password protect SSH keys?