passwordless ssh from laptop

[Chris Green]

On Mon, Dec 26, 2016 at 11:15:01AM +0000, Colin Law wrote:
> > How is a 'long, strong passphrase' any better than a 'long, strong
> > password'?  As a user I have to remember either one or the other, it's
> > no easier to use a long, strong key than it is to use that same string
> > as a password.
> 
> Because you need both the key and the passphrase. The hackers probing
> your server from the other side of the world will have no chance of
> getting in (they concentrate on guessing user names and passwords) and
> even someone who (for example) steals your laptop, and so has access
> to the key, still has to guess the passphrase.
> 
In that case though (stolen, or access to, laptop) the intruder has
unlimited access and can apply brute force methods.  If [s]he's
guessing passwords remotely that's not so possible.

-- 
Chris Green