ssh disconnect

[rikona]

I've been browsing using an ssh connection to a proxy for quite a
while, but lately it seems to be disconnecting fairly frequently. I
don't have a config file in my .ssh dir, and the etc/ssh/ssh_config file
does not have a serveraliveinterval 60 entry. If I create a config file
in .ssh, with that entry, will that override all the entries in the etc
file so that I have to also place the active etc entries in my local
directory? And, if I do that, should that take care of the disconnect
issue?

I saw a suggestion that keeping the ssh connection open might be a
security risk, but I'm not sure that it's a significant risk - is it?

Also, if there's a better way of dealing with this, please let me know.

Thanks,

Rik