That’s because bad actors have become increasingly adept at stealing passwords in transit through the internet, lifting them from repositories, and obtaining them through brute force attacks. Passwords used to offer a measure of security, but they are not as effective as they once were. Digital identities need to be strong so that they cannot be stolen, convenient so that access is fast and never interrupted, and future-proof so that enterprises can stay ahead of possible threats. passwordsĪt a high level, SSH keys function like passwords by controlling access. ![]() This challenge-response sequence happens automatically between the SSH client and server without any manual action by the user. The user or process must respond correctly to the challenge to be granted access. The SSH client then decrypts the challenge message and responds back to the server. The SSH server recognizes that a connection is being requested and sends an encrypted challenge request using the shared public key information. When a user or process requests a connection to the remote server using the SSH client, a challenge-response sequence is initiated to complete authentication. The private key remains only on the system being used to access the remote server and is used to decrypt messages. On the user’s side, it is stored in SSH key management software or in a file on their computer. On the remote server side, it is saved in a public key file. The public key is used by both the user and the remote server to encrypt messages. The SSH key pair is used to authenticate the identity of a user or process that wants to access a remote system using the SSH protocol. 2048-bit RSA keys or 521-bit ECDSA keys offer sufficient cryptographic strength to keep hackers from cracking the algorithm. The key size or bit length helps determine the strength of protection. These algorithms use various computation methods to generate random numeric combinations of varying length so that they cannot be exploited with a brute force attack. ![]() The most common mathematical algorithms used for key generation are Rivest–Shamir–Adleman (RSA) and Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA). To create the digital identity, the public and private key are both generated, and the pair is associated with each other using a strong public key cryptography algorithm. These keys are normally managed by an organization’s IT team, or better yet, with the help of a trusted Certificate Authority (CA) to ensure they are stored safely. The public key can be shared freely with any SSH server to which the user wishes to connect. The private key is secret, known only to the user, and should be encrypted and stored safely. ![]() Public and private keysĪn SSH key relies upon the use of two related keys, a public key and a private key, that together create a key pair that is used as the secure access credential. SSH keys pairs use public key infrastructure (PKI) technology, the gold standard for digital identity authentication and encryption, to provide a secure and scalable method of authentication.Īs the SSH protocol is widely used for communication in cloud services, network environments, file transfer tools, configuration management tools, and other computer-dependent services, most organizations use this type of key-based authentication to verify identities and protect those services from unintended use or malicious attacks. SSH keys not only improve security but also enable the automation of connected processes, single sign-on (SSO), and identity and access management at scale that today’s businesses require.Īn SSH key is a secure access credential used in the Secure Shell (SSH) protocol.
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