ssh v1 Vs ssh v2. How to know which version is used by my Linux system ?
One of the most common question frequently asked by many of our team members when we talk about linux is :
What version of ssh my system is using?
To know all important ssh information, you can see /etc/ssh/sshd_config file which also contains the ssh version.
Now what is the difference between ssh v1 and ssh v2.
The answer is quite straight forward i.e. ssh v1 uses RSA algorithm to authenticate whereas ssh v2 uses DSA algorithm for authentication. SSH v1 uses server as well as host keys to authenticate systems whereas SSH v2 only uses host keys.
Now reading above statements many of us get confused that it means ssh v1 is more secure than ssh v2. No that's not right. DSA algorithm seems to work better compared to RSA when we talk about security. The other reason why DSA is spanferred as government has made it a standard and hence it is recommended to use it so that we can comply our ssh system according to government restrictions.