2018-07-10 (last updated at January 10th, 2019) Michael BoelenSSH 6 comments

OpenSSH security and hardening

SSH or Secure Shell is the popular protocol for doing system administration on Linux systems. It runs on most systems, often with its default configuration. As this service opens up a potential gateway into the system, it is one of the steps to hardening a Linux system. This article covers the SSH security tips to secure the OpenSSH service and increase the defenses of the system. OpenSSH security OpenSSH is under development by the security fanatics from the OpenBSD project. Every new […]

2016-07-12 (last updated at September 2nd, 2018) Michael BoelenSSH 12 comments

Using Ed25519 for OpenSSH keys (instead of DSA/RSA/ECDSA)

Introduction into Ed25519 OpenSSH 6.5 added support for Ed25519 as a public key type. It is using an elliptic curve signature scheme, which offers better security than ECDSA and DSA. At the same time, it also has good performance. This type of keys may be used for user and host keys. With this in mind, it is great to be used together with OpenSSH. In this article, we have a look at this new key type. DSA or RSA Many […]

2016-05-02 (last updated at March 11th, 2017) Michael BoelenAuthentication 3 comments

The real purpose of login banners (on Linux)

Login banners on Linux The first thing you might see when connecting to a Linux machine, is a login banner. Some systems use the default, others have put some serious work into it. Think of great forms of ASCII art, or a lot of impressive text. You might be surprised to learn the real reasons for having a banner in the first place. In this article we will discuss the purpose, and determine how we can improve the quality of […]

2016-02-29 (last updated at March 3rd, 2016) Michael BoelenSystem Administration 2 comments

Mosh, the SSH Alternative Option for System Administration

Reasons to use Mosh instead of SSH Mosh, or mobile shell, is the ideal tool for remote system administration. While SSH is great, Mosh beats it in several areas. Let’s dive into the reasons why it makes sense to learn about Mosh. Pros Session Resumption Remember the last time your connection was interrupted? It it frustrating and sometimes even leads to losing some of your work. The stable TCP connection is not always a blessing. Mosh comes to the rescue, especially […]

2015-12-23 (last updated at July 7th, 2018) Michael BoelenAuthentication 7 comments

Granting temporary access to your servers (using signed SSH keys)

In need of support from a colleague or vendor, but don’t want to give them permanent access? SSH has an option to allow temporary access! Next time you need to provide temporary access for an hour or day, use this great option. Configuration We have two machines for this purpose. One is a system running Arch Linux, the client system. The other one is a server, running Ubuntu Linux. For temporary support, we have created a functional account support on the […]

2015-12-21 (last updated at October 10th, 2022) Michael BoelenAuthentication 3 comments

Distributing SSH keys: using ssh-copy-id, manually or automated

Distribution of SSH keys When you want to allow public key authentication, you have to first create a SSH keypair. Next step is then the distribution of the public key to the other systems. Let’s have a look at a few options, including using the ssh-copy-id utility. Option 1: Manually In the past, you had to log in manually to the new system and do things yourself. Especially if you created your key with a tool like PuTTYgen on Windows. […]

2015-10-12 (last updated at July 23rd, 2018) Michael BoelenPCI DSS compliance 4 comments

In-depth Linux Guide to Achieve PCI DSS Compliance and Certification

If you work for a company which accepts, processes, or stores credit card details, you might be familiar with the PCI Data Security Standard (DSS). The standard itself is very detailed. Still, it sometimes unclear on what specifically to implement and when. This guide will help with translating the PCI standard to technical security controls on Linux systems. This document has the goal to help you further secure your network and pass the PCI DSS audit. It is important to […]

2015-03-16 (last updated at December 18th, 2015) Michael BoelenSSH, System Administration One comment

Using SSH keys instead of passwords

Using SSH keys instead of passwords Linux systems are usually managed remotely with SSH (secure shell). Still many administrators are using passwords, instead of keys. Keys not only boost security, it also makes managing systems much easier. Instead of entering your password for each server, you only have to do it once per session. When managing several systems per day, you will be wondering why you ever used password based authentication before. Creating the key Depending on your desktop platform, […]

2014-06-03 (last updated at December 18th, 2015) Michael BoelenSoftware

Audit SSH configurations: HashKnownHosts option

Audit SSH configurations: HashKnownHosts option How it works Each time the SSH client connects with a server, it will store a related signature (a key) of the server. This information is stored in a file names named known_hosts. The known_hosts file itself is available in the .ssh subdirectory of the related user (on the client). In the case the signature of the server changes, SSH will protect the user by notifying about this chance. Risk involved This configuration option is […]