How can you change the default location of the .ssh folder

Solution 1:

Have a look at sshd_config(5) and edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config. Note that the path of relevant configuration files is set for each file individually (that is, it's not a matter of just changing the string .ssh to something else in one place in the config file).

Anyway, the setting you're looking for is AuthorizedKeysFile.

Solution 2:

To reduce the impact of private key disclosure, it's advisable to password encrypt the key itself. Offline brute force attacks on specific keys are still possible, but it does throw a wrench in someone who makes off with a cartload of user keys.

Another option -if encryption is not possible- is to restrict the use of the sshkey to specific IP addresses. Using this syntax in the public key added to the remote server. from="ipaddress1,ipaddress2" ssh-rsa ... That means that in the case of somebody stealing those keys, they will be useless if used from any other server (with different IP).

More to the point, you shouldn't store private keys of value on anything you don't control. To connect to a server, storing the public key on the server is sufficient.

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Solution 3:

You can rename folders with the "mv" command. So you could rename TopSecret back to .ssh by "mv TopSecret .ssh".

The administrators can control where the sshd looks for your keys by changing the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file's AuthorizedKeysFile parameter. You can't change this.