Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 07:25:37 +0100 From: Matthew Seaman <matthew@FreeBSD.org> To: John Case <case@SDF.ORG>, freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: comparing SSH key and passphrase auth vs. an SSH key *with* a passphrase ... Message-ID: <54192961.6010906@FreeBSD.org> In-Reply-To: <Pine.NEB.4.64.1409151907380.5595@faeroes.freeshell.org> References: <Pine.NEB.4.64.1409112200270.27915@faeroes.freeshell.org> <08D7B04D-CBBF-4330-BAD6-2668F9560964@mac.com> <Pine.NEB.4.64.1409151907380.5595@faeroes.freeshell.org>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
This is an OpenPGP/MIME signed message (RFC 4880 and 3156) --Rr6DRR5veK6EfLB4koGIe3aR0ahQFjdAt Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable On 15/09/2014 20:09, John Case wrote: >> Key based auth is definitely the better choice out of those two. > However, just out of curiousity - let's pretend that sshd *did* allow > you to use both an SSH key and a UNIX password at the same time ... > would that be more or less secure than using an SSH key with a built-in= > passphrase ? That's just like sprinkling sugar on top of honey: it doesn't really achieve anything. You've got maybe 2048 bits of SSH key and you want to add of the order of a hundred bits of password on top of that? It would be better to just use a bigger SSH key. If you are so concerned about security and you need something more than what ssh-key based auth can provide, then look into one-time password style things -- which includes all sorts of hardware tokens -- or kerberos / gssapi setups -- which use cryptographic methods vaguely similar to SSH keys, but store the sensitive keying material in a way that makes it much less likely to be compromised. Cheers, Matthew --=20 Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil. PGP: http://www.infracaninophile.co.uk/pgpkey --Rr6DRR5veK6EfLB4koGIe3aR0ahQFjdAt Content-Type: application/pgp-signature; name="signature.asc" Content-Description: OpenPGP digital signature Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="signature.asc" -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG/MacGPG2 v2.0.20 (Darwin) iQJ8BAEBCgBmBQJUGSlpXxSAAAAAAC4AKGlzc3Vlci1mcHJAbm90YXRpb25zLm9w ZW5wZ3AuZmlmdGhob3JzZW1hbi5uZXQ2NTNBNjhCOTEzQTRFNkNGM0UxRTEzMjZC QjIzQUY1MThFMUE0MDEzAAoJELsjr1GOGkATi0IP/jnknssds7F96c3GZlHZBjFf r3T3XJDygi/QpkJYm7KLHgL45qMBTKyNxVJJb8DfbpGfCoQ53rx/TVBiUtmaBIok 9Ijt+PJZ+7QzzHgzPFSJ9tU4FzbtBtdFW31mxn435EZVAu8V+RpVdRWC2kvJK3Zq O9j/Ih/A/tnO4kXvK68K7GTxBgPUak2ZkL3YQWkTi+WU+ud70e6Oey8babQIA0BX km1JhbXBWCBEraLOBjUb+1K5DbdAIHMsDU/AdFak9qbJL+JBjIQXCNvx7sJIW7RH GubmvkuN7fE3n8Iqx6CNGlzwrzziAA5GSkmwp3aDcy/oqEXLdcajGdynW0wu3I/G zy5eoxYHsXQMHEkskyk0LH1pGjh8B8g+Cb9zL4mTn80wlGgUQ9dwEhz3TXl6uUHc 6Pu/rqk8TcTqg8vE+enBNlo/HoCIB1+oRBtBpqbGLBKTe/2kOg828V3VMPIlaoOU 5JYjOvstCYFCFhcsvc32ws5YG6EAT4Z0SwQL75fE25rgqLYu0t/9CPSJIusDb/ZZ Y8SqbkMz71aOqazh6bVt+OWg/M1WkCkO+AKkob6AUussdjZkqaWSwcOjfXLaG6/x WTAZ8ll62Quc5NSfC/t/es6FTIZ+186Ll7lduX1GqBHG+6D1LoTn4ntO+uSau3VA FvXtdVquqPkSDcLJNMWL =6ePo -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --Rr6DRR5veK6EfLB4koGIe3aR0ahQFjdAt--
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?54192961.6010906>