Controlling ssh login without root privileges

captgoodnight · 10-03-2006, 04:11 AM

Hello, here's my issue. My wonderful web site provider decided it was a great idea to keep the user passwords the same across all services provided. So now clear text passwords like pop3 and ftp are the same as ssh. So, how can I control login with ssh from the scope of my home directory?

Just adding keys doesn't work, due to the lack of enforcement from /etc/ssh/sshd_config.

Any idears ?

thanks in advance,

--cg

Lotharster · 10-04-2006, 12:53 PM

I think you're stuck if you don't have root access to disable ssh tunnelled clear text passwords. The only thing you could do to reduce your risk would be to use POP with SSL encryption. Some email providers support this.
Instead of insecure ftp, you could use scp or sftp, which works over ssh and thus does not transmit clear text passwords.

Anyway, you have to use a good password to avoid dictionary attacks against your ssh account.