The internet has made sending and receiving data effortlessly easy, but, even if your data is password-protected, it’s not always safe. Sending data over a regular, unsecured network leaves it totally readable if someone were to intercept your data. This means that anyone can chime in and steal your data, without having to do much and you won’t even know it.
Data theft is especially likely if you’re using someone else’s WiFi, for example, at a local coffee shop. Sure, the coffee shop might not want your data, but anyone sitting there connected to the same network can easily take and manipulate your data. They will have complete control of every single piece of information that goes in and out of the network.
Most of the internet has moved over to HTTPS, a “secure” version of the classic Hypertext Transfer Protocol. It creates a secure network between you, the user, and the server by using a Transport Security Layer. But the internet is infinite, and there are still countless websites that aren’t secure, along with just your own computer.
By using an SSH, Secure Socket Shell, you can access your computer remotely, without having to worry about a cyber attack. Using an SSH, all the data you send over would be encrypted using a Public Key, and you will have access to a private key that is used to decrypt the data once it’s received.
An SSH can be used over any operating system, Windows, Mac, Linux, and any other operating system easily. Mac comes with it installed, and for Windows, you might have to install it manually.
Sometimes, the SSH servers can be difficult to get up and to run, and you may end up dealing with a few issues, one of the most common ones is “SSH server refused our key”. This can be for a variety of reasons, we will be going over a few:
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1. The most likely issue that is causing this is that you are using an incorrect SSH key
This is when you accidentally copy the key incorrectly or if you are trying to type it out yourself. An easy fix is to go back and try copying the key again and check if it was just a user error, most of the time it is, and you will be able to connect. If that doesn’t work, there might be another issue.
Have the server-side regenerate the key for you and try logging in again, if it still doesn’t work, check if you have the correct permissions and are actually authorized to be using the key. If you are not authorized, have the server allow you permission, so you are authorized and try again.
3. The user was deleted from the server
This would mean that the SSH doesn’t recognize the user, even if it did before because the user was deleted. To be able to log in, you will have to be added again, and only then can you log in.
These are the three most common reasons that you would see the “SSH server refused our key” message and how you can fix the issue. Usually, at least one of these works and you would be able to use your key to log into the network! Make sure to try each way just in case the one you’re thinking isn’t the problem so you can get to your solution efficiently!
