- Can A Private Key Generate Many Public Keys Florida
- Create Public Key
- Can A Private Key Generate Multiple Public Keys
- Multiple Public Keys For One Private Key
- Can A Private Key Generate Many Public Keys West
- Can A Private Key Generate Many Public Keys In China
Overview
Public key authentication is a way of logging into an SSH/SFTP account using a cryptographic key rather than a password.
If you use very strong SSH/SFTP passwords, your accounts are already safe from brute force attacks. However, using public key authentication provides many benefits when working with multiple developers. For example, with SSH keys you can
- If you look at how key pairs are generated in RSA, you select a public key first by specifying the public exponent, then generate the private key. I can't think of a use-case for multiple public keys. They are public and you can get any of them so it doesn't really improve security.
- If you want to use asymmetric cryptography, you cannot have multiple private key and one public key. These keys work as a pair of key. What is encrypted using the public key can only be decrypted by the private key and this key only.
Feb 26, 2018 This article will explain at a high-level Private and Public Key Cryptography used in Bitcoin and it’s unique security feature. We will be looking at how Public Keys are generated, why this is. However given one of the usual asymmetric schemes you can easily create such a scheme: To create a private key with n public keys, just generate n public-private keypairs in the normal scheme and define the 'private key' to be the collection of the private keys.
- allow multiple developers to log in as the same system user without having to share a single password between them;
- revoke a single developer's access without revoking access by other developers; and
- make it easier for a single developer to log in to many accounts without needing to manage many different passwords.
How Public Key Authentication Works
Keys come in pairs of a public key and a private key. Each key pair is unique, and the two keys work together.
These two keys have a very special and beautiful mathematical property: if you have the private key, you can prove you have it without showing what it is. It's like proving you know a password without having to show someone the password.
Public key authentication works like this:
- Generate a key pair.
- Give someone (or a server) the public key.
- Later, anytime you want to authenticate, the person (or the server) asks you to prove you have the private key that corresponds to the public key.
- You prove you have the private key.
You don't have to do the math or implement the key exchange yourself. The SSH server and client programs take care of this for you.
Generate an SSH Key Pair
You should generate your key pair on your laptop, not on your server. All Mac and Linux systems include a command called ssh-keygen that will generate a new key pair.
If you're using Windows, you can generate the keys on your server. Just remember to copy your keys to your laptop and delete your private key from the server after you've generated it.
To generate an SSH key pair, run the command ssh-keygen.
It will look like this when you run it:
You'll be prompted to choose the location to store the keys. The default location is good unless you already have a key. Press Enter to choose the default location.
Next, you'll be asked to choose a password. Using a password means a password will be required to use the private key. It's a good idea to use a password on your private key.
After you choose a password, your public and private keys will be generated. There will be two different files. The one named id_rsa is your private key. The one named id_rsa.pub is your public key.
You'll also be shown a fingerprint and 'visual fingerprint' of your key. You do not need to save these.
Configure an SSH/SFTP User for Your Key
Method 1: Using ssh-copy-id
Now that you have an SSH key pair, you're ready to configure your app's system user so you can SSH or SFTP in using your private key.
To copy your public key to your server, run the following command. Be sure to replace 'x.x.x.x' with your server's IP address and SYSUSER with the name of the the system user your app belongs to.
Method 2: Manual Configuration
If you don't have the ssh-copy-id command (for example, if you are using Windows), you can instead SSH in to your server and manually create the .ssh/authorized_keys file so it contains your public key.
First, run the following commands to make create the file with the correct permissions.
Next, edit the file .ssh/authorized_keys using your preferred editor. Copy and paste your id_rsa.pub file into the file.
Log In Using Your Private Key
You can now SSH or SFTP into your server using your private key. From the command line, you can use:
If you didn't create your key in the default location, you'll need to specify the location:
If you're using a Windows SSH client, such as PuTTy, look in the configuration settings to specify the path to your private key.
Granting Access to Multiple Keys
The .ssh/authorized_keys file you created above uses a very simple format: it can contain many keys as long as you put one key on each line in the file.
If you have multiple keys (for example, one on each of your laptops) or multiple developers you need to grant access to, just follow the same instructions above using ssh-copy-id or manually editing the file to paste in additional keys, one on each line.
When you're done, the .ssh/authorized_keys file will look something like this (don't copy this, use your own public keys):
Additional Information
Retrieve Your Public Key from Your Private Key
The following command will retrieve the public key from a private key:
This can be useful, for example, if your server provider generated your SSH key for you and you were only able to download the private key portion of the key pair.
Note that you cannot retrieve the private key if you only have the public key.
Correcting Permissions on the .ssh Directory
The instructions in this article will create your server's .ssh directory and .ssh/authorized_keys file with the correct permissions. However, if you've created them yourself and need to fix permissions, you can run the following commands on your server while SSH'd in as your app's system user.
Disabling Password Authentication
NOTE: When changing anything about the way SSH is accessed(ports, authentication methods, et cetera), it is very strongly recommended to leave an active root SSH session open until everything is working as intended. This ensures you have a way to revert changes in the event something goes wrongand logins are not working properly.
As an extra security precaution, once you have set up SSH keys, you may wish to disable password authentication entirely. This will mean no users will be able to log into SSH or SFTP without SSH keys. Anyone entering a password will receive a message like:
Or:
Disabling password authentication is an excellent way to improve server security. Please see our guide here for the steps to accomplish this goal.
Then, test whether you're able to log in with a password by opening a new SSH or SFTP session to the server. Passwords should not be able to be used and, if everything has been done correctly, an error will be issued when someone tries to use a password. Unless this setting is changed back to allow password authentication, no users will be able to log in without an SSH key set up.
Public and private key pairs lie at the core of how is referred to as public key cryptography. Together, they work to secure and authenticate messages. They also lie behind how we authenticate messages at PreVeil.
We often find ourselves explaining the concepts of how these keys work when we talk to prospective clients. So, we thought it would be helpful to discuss what these keys are, what they aren’t and how they work.
The answers below provide a general overview on public and private key pairs rather than an architectural overview of PreVeil. For a detailed understanding of how public-private key pairs work in PreVeil, please review our architectural whitepaper.
We often find ourselves explaining the concepts of how these keys work when we talk to prospective clients. So, we thought it would be helpful to discuss what these keys are, what they aren’t and how they work.
The answers below provide a general overview on public and private key pairs rather than an architectural overview of PreVeil. For a detailed understanding of how public-private key pairs work in PreVeil, please review our architectural whitepaper.
Public key vs. private key
The main difference between a public and a private key is their use. The public key , as its name implies, is public and open to anyone in the system. The public key is used to encrypt data.
The private key however is private. It is only ever stored on user’s device. The private key is used to decrypt data.
Can A Private Key Generate Many Public Keys Florida
Public key is used to convert the message to an unreadable form. Private key is used to convert the received message back to the original message. Both these keys help to ensure the security of the exchanged data. A message encrypted with the public key cannot be decrypted without using the corresponding private key.
Create Public Key
Generating public private key pairs
The public and private key are not really keys but rather are really large prime numbers that are mathematically related to one another. Being related in this case means that whatever is encrypted by the public key can only be decrypted by the related private key.
Can A Private Key Generate Multiple Public Keys
A person cannot guess the private key based on knowing the public key. Because of this, a public key can be freely shared. The private key however belongs to only one person.
There are several well-known mathematical algorithms that are used to produce the public and private key. Some well-respected examples of public private key encryption are RSA, DSS (Digital Signature Standard) and various elliptic curve techniques. At PreVeil, we use elliptic-curve cryptography’s Curve-25519 and NIST P-256.
Can a public key decrypt a private key?
Multiple Public Keys For One Private Key
In asymmetric cryptography, the public and private key can also be used to create a digital signature. A digital signature assures that the person sending the message is who they claim to be.
Typically, we use the recipient’s public key to encrypt the data and the recipient then uses their private key to decrypt the data. However, using this scheme, there’s no way to authenticate the source of the message. Mike could get a hold of Bob’s public key (since it’s public) and pretend that Bob is the person sending a message to Alice.
To prevent this type of fraud, Bob can sign his message with a digital signature. Digital signatures ensure Mike can’t pretend that he is Bob by using Bob’s public key to send a message to Alice.
To create a digital signature using a public and private key, Bob digitally signs his email to Alice using his private key. When Alice receives the message from Bob, she can verify the digital signature on the message came from Bob by using his public key. As the digital signature uses Bob’s private key, Bob is the only person who could create the signature.
PreVeil’s method for securing messages is a bit more complex than the example provided above. However the example provides a good general overview for how asymmetric encryption works.
How public and private keys work
Public and private keys work together in pairs. As noted above, public keys are disseminated widely and private keys are known only to the owner.
Here’s an example of how the public and private key pair works together:
Bob wants to send Alice an encrypted email. To do this, Bob takes Alice’s public key and encrypts his message to her. Then, when Alice receives the message, she takes the private key that is known only to her in order to decrypt the message from Bob and reads it.
Although the companies owning the server might try to read the message, they will be unable to because they lack the private key to decrypt the message. Only Alice will be able to decrypt the message as she is the only one with the private key.
When Alice wants to reply, she simply repeats the process, encrypting her message to Bob using Bob’s public key.
Examples of public private key encryption.
Many protocols like SSH, OpenPGP, S/MIME, and SSL/TLS rely on asymmetric cryptography for encryption and digital signatures. It is also used in software programs, such as browsers, to establish secure connections over an insecure network like the internet.
PreVeil is one example platform that uses public and private keys to encrypt data and create digital signatures. Other well-known applications that use public and private keys to secure messages are WhatsApp and Signal.
Can A Private Key Generate Many Public Keys West
Business benefits of public private key encryption
By using a public and private key for encryption and decryption, recipients can be confident that the data is what the sender says it is. The recipient is assured of the confidentiality, integrity and authenticity of the data.
Confidentiality is ensured because the content that is secured with the public key can only be decrypted with the private key. This ensures that only the intended recipient can ever review the contents
Integrity is ensured because part of the decryption process requires checking that the received message matches the sent message. This ensures that the message has not been changed in between.
Authenticity is ensured because each message sent by Alice to Bob is also signed by Alice’s private key. The only way to decrypt Alice’s private key is with her public key, which Bob can access. By signing the message with her private key, Alice ensures the authenticity of the message and shows that it really did come from her.
Conclusion
Can A Private Key Generate Many Public Keys In China
Interested in reading more about public private keys? Look at our articles on:
End-to-end encryption
Email encryption
Or watch our video on how public and private keys secure enterprise email: