In today’s distributed workplace model, privileged remote access to servers and systems is crucial for ensuring smooth operations. Secure Shell (SSH) keys play a vital role in securely facilitating this access. IT teams worldwide rely on SSH keys for remote system administration, support and maintenance, and file transfers on a daily basis. Due to the widespread use of SSH keys and their ability to provide secure root-level access to systems, it is imperative to ensure proper management and protection of these keys. As SSH keys can be easily generated and do not expire, they continue to accumulate exponentially, with enterprises having millions of SSH keys across thousands of servers. Managing such a large volume of SSH keys poses a significant challenge for IT teams.
When SSH keys are left unmanaged, there is a high risk of attackers stealing or misusing them to gain access to critical resources like production servers, firewalls, and databases, and move undetected laterally. In addition to the security risk, unmanaged SSH keys can lead to policy violations, failed audits, and severe regulatory penalties. To ensure robust protection of your infrastructure and continuous regulatory compliance, here are the best practices to follow for effective SSH key management:
1. Discovery and Inventory: Scan and discover all SSH keys across hybrid and multi-cloud infrastructures on an on-demand basis. Maintain an accurate inventory of SSH keys, including user and host keys, to simplify management and gain centralized control.
2. Gain Holistic Visibility: Establish a centralized view of all SSH keys in the inventory and map their trust relationships to associated users, hosts, servers, and service accounts. Understand the key’s trust relationships to ensure successful key rotations and detect outdated and vulnerable keys.
3. Monitor Key Usage: Continuously monitor the configurations, usage, and age of SSH keys to identify and remove inactive or rogue keys. Review key authentication logs periodically and set up alerts for unusual access attempts to prevent security breaches.
4. Automate Key Lifecycle Management: Automate key lifecycle processes, including requests, rollouts, rotations, and removal, to simplify management and reduce the risk of manual errors. Leverage automation solutions for streamlined SSH key creation, configurations, and access provisioning.
5. Enforce Policies and Governance: Restrict and control access to systems by enforcing appropriate policies and assigning ownership of keys to enforce accountability. Implement role-based access control for managing SSH keys and enforce policies around key generation, approved crypto standards, rotations, and access.
6. Generate Strong Keys: Choose strong cryptographic standards like RSA or Ed25519 when creating SSH keys to ensure security against brute-force attacks. Avoid using vulnerable algorithms like DSA.
7. Rotate Keys Regularly: Periodically rotate SSH keys to minimize the risk of misuse and ensure better access control. Define a schedule for key replacement and automate key rotation across shared systems.
8. Limit Shared Private Key Usage: Avoid using shared private keys across multiple servers to simplify key rotation. Create separate keys for different environments and users to minimize the impact of compromised keys.
9. Use Passphrases: Implement passphrases for SSH keys to add an extra layer of security. Encourage users to use complex passphrases to prevent unauthorized access in case of device loss or theft.
Effective SSH key management is essential for maintaining the security and compliance of your infrastructure. By following these best practices, you can take control of your SSH keys, mitigate risks, and safeguard your systems. To learn more about how AppViewX helps organizations manage SSH keys, contact us today or visit: https://www.appviewx.com/solutions/ssh-access-control/.
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