SSH keys without passphrases are just fancy credential files sitting in your .ssh/ directory, basically like writing your passwords on paper and leaving it in your desk drawer.

[–] tauonite@lemmy.world 7 points 20 hours ago

TIL some people store SSH keys unencrypted

[–] ThunderQueen@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

I had mine on paper for years before i learned about Keepass. I trusted it more than a cloud based manager because someone would have to physically be in my room.

I am a lot more careful these days but that is not beyond the pale for a lot of folks haha

[–] rumba@lemmy.zip 3 points 2 hours ago

but they require chmod 400 and they're ideally in on an encrypted disk

So the desk drawer is locked and the codes are Luks encrypted.

And for critical stuff, you should also have a password on the key.

If your ssh keys are like a passwords on paper in a drawer, you're doing it wrong.