diff --git a/app/server/modules/repositories/repositories.service.ts b/app/server/modules/repositories/repositories.service.ts
index f32312f9..cac2af30 100644
--- a/app/server/modules/repositories/repositories.service.ts
+++ b/app/server/modules/repositories/repositories.service.ts
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ const createRepository = async (name: string, config: RepositoryConfig, compress
 
 		error = result.error;
 	} else {
-		const initResult = await restic.init(encryptedConfig, organizationId);
+		const initResult = await restic.init(encryptedConfig, organizationId, { timeoutMs: 20000 });
 		error = initResult.error;
 	}
 
diff --git a/app/server/utils/restic.ts b/app/server/utils/restic.ts
index 6532cbd1..30366f20 100644
--- a/app/server/utils/restic.ts
+++ b/app/server/utils/restic.ts
@@ -185,11 +185,27 @@ export const buildEnv = async (config: RepositoryConfig, organizationId: string)
 
 			const sshArgs = [
 				"-o",
-				"LogLevel=VERBOSE",
+				"LogLevel=ERROR",
 				"-o",
-				"ServerAliveInterval=60",
+				"BatchMode=yes",
 				"-o",
-				"ServerAliveCountMax=240",
+				"NumberOfPasswordPrompts=0",
+				"-o",
+				"PreferredAuthentications=publickey",
+				"-o",
+				"PasswordAuthentication=no",
+				"-o",
+				"KbdInteractiveAuthentication=no",
+				"-o",
+				"IdentitiesOnly=yes",
+				"-o",
+				"ConnectTimeout=10",
+				"-o",
+				"ConnectionAttempts=1",
+				"-o",
+				"ServerAliveInterval=10",
+				"-o",
+				"ServerAliveCountMax=3",
 				"-i",
 				keyPath,
 			];
@@ -227,7 +243,7 @@ export const buildEnv = async (config: RepositoryConfig, organizationId: string)
 	return env;
 };
 
-const init = async (config: RepositoryConfig, organizationId: string) => {
+const init = async (config: RepositoryConfig, organizationId: string, options?: { timeoutMs?: number }) => {
 	const repoUrl = buildRepoUrl(config);
 
 	logger.info(`Initializing restic repository at ${repoUrl}...`);
@@ -237,7 +253,7 @@ const init = async (config: RepositoryConfig, organizationId: string) => {
 	const args = ["init", "--repo", repoUrl];
 	addCommonArgs(args, env, config);
 
-	const res = await exec({ command: "restic", args, env });
+	const res = await exec({ command: "restic", args, env, timeout: options?.timeoutMs ?? 20000 });
 	await cleanupTemporaryKeys(env);
 
 	if (res.exitCode !== 0) {
diff --git a/app/server/utils/spawn.ts b/app/server/utils/spawn.ts
index a68f321d..73f06e22 100644
--- a/app/server/utils/spawn.ts
+++ b/app/server/utils/spawn.ts
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ export const safeSpawn = (params: SafeSpawnParams) => {
 		const child = spawn(command, args, {
 			env: { ...process.env, ...env },
 			signal: signal,
+			stdio: ["ignore", "pipe", "pipe"],
 		});
 
 		child.stdout.setEncoding("utf8");