[[!meta title="Why is ssh -k recommended for ssh-ing into scripts.mit.edu?"]]
Kerberos ticket forwarding (ssh -K [note the capital letter], the
default on Athena) will attempt to transfer your full Athena
credentials to scripts.mit.edu. The scripts server does not need
these credentials, and good security practice suggests that you
should not transfer your credentials where you do not need them.

If you instead use ssh -k [note the lower case letter], you will
authenticate yourself to the scripts server using your kerberos
tickets, without giving the scripts server any special priveleges
over your Athena account.

In short, **ssh -k scripts.mit.edu** is the recommended means of
ssh-ing to the scripts server.