diff --git a/ChangeLog.md b/ChangeLog.md
index d14bf08..8557ce8 100644
--- a/ChangeLog.md
+++ b/ChangeLog.md
@@ -5,12 +5,17 @@
 - Snyk, Bithound, Travis CI
 - Cross platform improvements (path mappings)
 - Session fixup between Express and Socket.io
+- Session secret settings in config.json
 - env variable `DEBUG=ssh2` will put the `ssh2` module into debug mode
-- env variable `debug=WebSSH2` will output additional debug messages for functions
+- env variable `DEBUG=WebSSH2` will output additional debug messages for functions
 and events in the application (not including the ssh2 module debug)
 
 ### Changed
 - erorr handling in public/client.js
+- moved socket.io operations to their own file /socket/index.js, more changes like this to come (./socket/index.js)
+- all session based variables are now under the req.session.ssh property or socket.request.ssh (./index.js)
+- moved SSH algorithms to config.json and defined as a session variable (..session.ssh.algorithms)
+-- prep for future feature to define algorithims in header or some other method to enable seperate ciphers per host
 
 ### Fixed
 - Multiple errors may ovewrite status bar which would cause confusion as to what originally caused the error. Example, ssh server disconnects which prompts a cascade of events (conn.on('end'), socket.on('disconnect'), conn.on('close')) and the original reason (conn.on('end')) would be lost and the user would erroneously receive a WEBSOCKET error as the last event to fire would be the websocket connection closing from the app.
diff --git a/config.json b/config.json
index 59449fa..1083601 100644
--- a/config.json
+++ b/config.json
@@ -10,17 +10,32 @@
   "ssh": {
     "host": null,
     "port": 22,
-    "term": "xterm-color",
+    "term": "xterm-color"
   },
   "header": {
     "text": "My Header",
     "background": "green"
   },
   "session": {
-    "name": "WebSSH2id",
+    "name": "WebSSH2",
     "secret": "mysecret"
   },
   "options": {
     "challengeButton": true
+  },
+  "algorithms": {
+    "cipher": [
+      "aes128-cbc",
+      "3des-cbc",
+      "aes256-cbc",
+      "aes128-ctr",
+      "aes192-ctr",
+      "aes256-ctr"
+    ],
+    "hmac": [
+      "hmac-sha1",
+      "hmac-sha1-96",
+      "hmac-md5-96"
+    ]
   }
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 84ac552..6781c9a 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -8,40 +8,17 @@ var app = express()
 var server = require('http').Server(app)
 var io = require('socket.io')(server)
 var path = require('path')
-var SSH = require('ssh2').Client
 var config = require('read-config')(path.join(__dirname, 'config.json'))
-var debug = require('debug')
-var debugWebSSH2 = debug('WebSSH2')
-var util = require('./util')
-var SocketUtil = require('./socket')
+// var debug = require('debug')
+// var debugWebSSH2 = debug('WebSSH2')
+var myutil = require('./util')
+var socket = require('./socket/index.js')
 var session = require('express-session')({
   secret: config.session.secret,
   name: config.session.name,
   resave: true,
-  saveUninitialized: false
-})
-var colors = require('colors/safe')
-var termCols, termRows
-// var LogPrefix
-// var dataBuffer = ''
-
-// server
-
-server.listen({
-  host: config.listen.ip,
-  port: config.listen.port
-})
-
-server.on('error', function (err) {
-  if (err.code === 'EADDRINUSE') {
-    config.listen.port++
-    console.warn('Address in use, retrying on port ' + config.listen.port)
-    setTimeout(function () {
-      server.listen(config.listen.port)
-    }, 250)
-  } else {
-    console.log('server.listen ERROR: ' + err.code)
-  }
+  saveUninitialized: false,
+  unset: 'destroy'
 })
 
 // express
@@ -58,30 +35,33 @@ var expressOptions = {
 }
 
 app.use(session)
-app.use(util.basicAuth)
+app.use(myutil.basicAuth)
 
 app.disable('x-powered-by')
 
-app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'public'), expressOptions))
-
 app.get('/ssh/host/:host?', function (req, res, next) {
   res.sendFile(path.join(path.join(__dirname, 'public', 'client.htm')))
-  // capture url variables if defined
-  config.ssh.host = req.params.host || config.ssh.host
-  config.ssh.port = req.query.port || config.ssh.port
-  config.header.text = req.query.header || config.header.text
-  config.header.background = req.query.headerBackground || config.header.background
-  console.log('webssh2 Login: user=' + req.session.username + ' from=' + req.ip + ' host=' + config.ssh.host + ' port=' + config.ssh.port + ' sessionID=' + req.sessionID + ' allowreplay=' + req.headers.allowreplay)
-  debugWebSSH2('Headers: ' + colors.yellow(JSON.stringify(req.headers)))
-  config.options.allowreplay = req.headers.allowreplay
+  // capture and assign variables
+  req.session.ssh = {
+    host: req.params.host || config.ssh.host,
+    port: req.query.port || config.ssh.port,
+    header: {
+      name: req.query.header || config.header.text,
+      background: req.query.headerBackground || config.header.background
+    },
+    algorithms: config.algorithms,
+    term: config.ssh.term,
+    allowreplay: req.headers.allowreplay || false
+  }
 })
 
+// static files
+app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'public'), expressOptions))
 app.use('/style', express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'public')))
-
 app.use('/src', express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'node_modules', 'xterm', 'dist')))
-
 app.use('/addons', express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'node_modules', 'xterm', 'dist', 'addons')))
 
+// express error handling
 app.use(function (req, res, next) {
   res.status(404).send("Sorry can't find that!")
 })
@@ -92,124 +72,28 @@ app.use(function (err, req, res, next) {
 })
 
 // socket.io
-
+// expose express session with socket.request.session
 io.use(function (socket, next) {
-  if (socket.request.res) {
-    session(socket.request, socket.request.res, next)
-  } else {
-    next()
-  }
+  (socket.request.res) ? session(socket.request, socket.request.res, next) : next()
 })
 
-io.on('connection', function (socket) {
-  // if websocket connection arrives without an express session, kill it
-  if (!socket.request.session) {
-    socket.disconnect(true)
-    return
-  }
-  var socketutil = new SocketUtil(socket, io)
-  var conn = new SSH()
-  socket.on('geometry', function (cols, rows) {
-    termCols = cols
-    termRows = rows
-  })
+// bring up socket
+io.on('connection', socket)
 
-  conn.on('banner', function (d) {
-        // need to convert to cr/lf for proper formatting
-    d = d.replace(/\r?\n/g, '\r\n')
-    socket.emit('data', d.toString('binary'))
-  })
+// server
+server.listen({
+  host: config.listen.ip,
+  port: config.listen.port
+})
 
-  conn.on('ready', function () {
-    socket.emit('title', 'ssh://' + config.ssh.host)
-    socket.emit('headerBackground', config.header.background)
-    socket.emit('header', config.header.text)
-    socket.emit('footer', 'ssh://' + socket.request.session.username + '@' + config.ssh.host + ':' + config.ssh.port)
-    socket.emit('status', 'SSH CONNECTION ESTABLISHED')
-    socket.emit('statusBackground', config.header.background)
-    socket.emit('allowreplay', config.options.allowreplay)
-
-    conn.shell({
-      term: config.ssh.term,
-      cols: termCols,
-      rows: termRows
-    }, function (err, stream) {
-      if (err) {
-        socketutil.SSHerror('EXEC ERROR' + err)
-        conn.end()
-        return
-      }
-      socket.on('data', function (data) {
-        stream.write(data)
-        // poc to log commands from client
-        // if (data === '\r') {
-        //   console.log(LogPrefix + ': ' + dataBuffer)
-        //   dataBuffer = ''
-        // } else {
-        //  dataBuffer = dataBuffer + data
-        // }
-      })
-      socket.on('control', function (controlData) {
-        switch (controlData) {
-          case 'replayCredentials':
-            stream.write(socket.request.session.userpassword + '\n')
-                        /* falls through */
-          default:
-            console.log('controlData: ' + controlData)
-        }
-      })
-
-      socket.on('disconnecting', function (reason) { debugWebSSH2('SOCKET DISCONNECTING: ' + reason) })
-
-      socket.on('disconnect', function (reason) {
-        debugWebSSH2('SOCKET DISCONNECT: ' + reason)
-        err = { message: reason }
-        socketutil.SSHerror('CLIENT SOCKET DISCONNECT', err)
-        conn.end()
-      })
-
-      socket.on('error', function (error) { debugWebSSH2('SOCKET ERROR: ' + JSON.stringify(error)) })
-
-      stream.on('data', function (d) { socket.emit('data', d.toString('binary')) })
-
-      stream.on('close', function (code, signal) {
-        err = { message: ((code || signal) ? (((code) ? 'CODE: ' + code : '') + ((code && signal) ? ' ' : '') + ((signal) ? 'SIGNAL: ' + signal : '')) : undefined) }
-        socketutil.SSHerror('STREAM CLOSE', err)
-        conn.end()
-      })
-
-      stream.stderr.on('data', function (data) {
-        console.log('STDERR: ' + data)
-      })
-    })
-  })
-
-  conn.on('end', function (err) { socketutil.SSHerror('CONN END BY HOST', err) })
-  conn.on('close', function (err) { socketutil.SSHerror('CONN CLOSE', err) })
-  conn.on('error', function (err) { socketutil.SSHerror('CONN ERROR', err) })
-
-  conn.on('keyboard-interactive', function (name, instructions, instructionsLang, prompts, finish) {
-    debugWebSSH2('Connection :: keyboard-interactive')
-    finish([socket.request.session.userpassword])
-  })
-  if (socket.request.session.username && socket.request.session.userpassword) {
-    conn.connect({
-      host: config.ssh.host,
-      port: config.ssh.port,
-      username: socket.request.session.username,
-      password: socket.request.session.userpassword,
-      tryKeyboard: true,
-      // some cisco routers need the these cipher strings
-      algorithms: {
-        'cipher': ['aes128-cbc', '3des-cbc', 'aes256-cbc', 'aes128-ctr', 'aes192-ctr', 'aes256-ctr'],
-        'hmac': ['hmac-sha1', 'hmac-sha1-96', 'hmac-md5-96']
-      },
-      debug: debug('ssh2')
-    })
+server.on('error', function (err) {
+  if (err.code === 'EADDRINUSE') {
+    config.listen.port++
+    console.warn('Address in use, retrying on port ' + config.listen.port)
+    setTimeout(function () {
+      server.listen(config.listen.port)
+    }, 250)
   } else {
-    console.warn('Attempt to connect without session.username/password defined, potentially previously abandoned client session. disconnecting websocket client.\r\nHandshake information: \r\n  ' + JSON.stringify(socket.handshake))
-    socket.emit('statusBackground', 'red')
-    socket.emit('status', 'WEBSOCKET ERROR - Reload and try again')
-    socket.disconnect(true)
+    console.log('server.listen ERROR: ' + err.code)
   }
 })
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 4c6e00e..035f8e2 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -39,10 +39,12 @@
   },
   "scripts": {
     "start": "node index",
-    "test": "snyk test"
+    "test": "snyk test",
+    "watch": "nodemon index.js"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "bithound": "^1.7.0",
+    "nodemon": "^1.11.0",
     "snyk": "^1.30.1"
   }
 }
diff --git a/socket/index.js b/socket/index.js
index 436409c..fbb8576 100644
--- a/socket/index.js
+++ b/socket/index.js
@@ -1,12 +1,143 @@
-var debug = require('debug')('WebSSH2')
-var myError
+// private
+var debug = require('debug')
+var debugWebSSH2 = require('debug')('WebSSH2')
+var SSH = require('ssh2').Client
+var termCols, termRows
 
-module.exports = function (socket, io) {
-  this.SSHerror = function (myFunc, err) {
-    myError = (myError) || ((err) ? err.message : undefined)
-    var thisError = (myError) ? ': ' + myError : ''
-    debug('SSH ' + myFunc + thisError)
-    socket.emit('ssherror', 'SSH ' + myFunc + thisError)
+// public
+module.exports = function (socket) {
+  function SSHerror (myFunc, err) {
+    socket.request.session.error = (socket.request.session.error) || ((err) ? err.message : undefined)
+    var theError = (socket.request.session.error) ? ': ' + socket.request.session.error : ''
+    // log unsuccessful login attempt
+    if (err && (err.level === 'client-authentication')) {
+      console.log('webssh2 ' + 'error: Authentication failure'.red.bold +
+      ' user=' + socket.request.session.username.yellow.bold.underline +
+      ' from=' + socket.handshake.address.yellow.bold.underline)
+    }
+    switch (myFunc) {
+      case 'STREAM CLOSE':
+        debugWebSSH2('SSH ' + myFunc + theError.red)
+        socket.emit('ssherror', 'SSH ' + myFunc + theError)
+        socket.disconnect(true)
+        break
+      default:
+        debugWebSSH2('SSHerror: default'.red)
+        debugWebSSH2('SSH ' + myFunc + theError)
+        socket.emit('ssherror', 'SSH ' + myFunc + theError)
+        socket.disconnect(true)
+    }
+  }
+
+  // if websocket connection arrives without an express session, kill it
+  if (!socket.request.session) {
+    socket.emit('401 UNAUTHORIZED')
+    debugWebSSH2('SOCKET: No Express Session / REJECTED')
+    socket.disconnect(true)
+    return
+  }
+  var conn = new SSH()
+  socket.on('geometry', function (cols, rows) {
+    termCols = cols
+    termRows = rows
+  })
+  console.log('webssh2 ' + 'IO ON:'.cyan.bold + ' user=' + socket.request.session.username + ' from=' + socket.handshake.address + ' host=' + socket.request.session.ssh.host + ' port=' + socket.request.session.ssh.port + ' sessionID=' + socket.request.sessionID + '/' + socket.id + ' allowreplay=' + socket.request.session.ssh.allowreplay + ' term=' + socket.request.session.ssh.term)
+  conn.on('banner', function (d) {
+        // need to convert to cr/lf for proper formatting
+    d = d.replace(/\r?\n/g, '\r\n')
+    socket.emit('data', d.toString('binary'))
+  })
+
+  conn.on('ready', function () {
+    console.log('webssh2 Login: user=' + socket.request.session.username + ' from=' + socket.handshake.address + ' host=' + socket.request.session.ssh.host + ' port=' + socket.request.session.ssh.port + ' sessionID=' + socket.request.sessionID + '/' + socket.id + ' allowreplay=' + socket.request.session.ssh.allowreplay + ' term=' + socket.request.session.ssh.term)
+    socket.emit('title', 'ssh://' + socket.request.session.ssh.host)
+    socket.emit('headerBackground', socket.request.session.ssh.header.background)
+    socket.emit('header', socket.request.session.ssh.header.name)
+    socket.emit('footer', 'ssh://' + socket.request.session.username + '@' + socket.request.session.ssh.host + ':' + socket.request.session.ssh.port)
+    socket.emit('status', 'SSH CONNECTION ESTABLISHED')
+    socket.emit('statusBackground', socket.request.session.ssh.header.background)
+    socket.emit('allowreplay', socket.request.session.ssh.allowreplay)
+
+    conn.shell({
+      term: socket.request.session.ssh.term,
+      cols: termCols,
+      rows: termRows
+    }, function (err, stream) {
+      if (err) {
+        SSHerror('EXEC ERROR' + err)
+        conn.end()
+        return
+      }
+      // poc to log commands from client
+      // var dataBuffer
+      socket.on('data', function (data) {
+        stream.write(data)
+        // poc to log commands from client
+        // if (data === '\r') {
+        //   console.log(socket.request.session.id + '/' + socket.id + ' command: ' + socket.request.session.ssh.host + ': ' + dataBuffer)
+        //   dataBuffer = undefined
+        // } else {
+        //   dataBuffer = (dataBuffer) ? dataBuffer + data : data
+        // }
+      })
+      socket.on('control', function (controlData) {
+        switch (controlData) {
+          case 'replayCredentials':
+            stream.write(socket.request.session.userpassword + '\n')
+          /* falls through */
+          default:
+            console.log('controlData: ' + controlData)
+        }
+      })
+
+      socket.on('disconnecting', function (reason) { debugWebSSH2('SOCKET DISCONNECTING: ' + reason) })
+
+      socket.on('disconnect', function (reason) {
+        debugWebSSH2('SOCKET DISCONNECT: ' + reason)
+        err = { message: reason }
+        SSHerror('CLIENT SOCKET DISCONNECT', err)
+        conn.end()
+      })
+
+      socket.on('error', function (error) { debugWebSSH2('SOCKET ERROR: ' + JSON.stringify(error)) })
+
+      stream.on('data', function (d) { socket.emit('data', d.toString('binary')) })
+
+      stream.on('close', function (code, signal) {
+        err = { message: ((code || signal) ? (((code) ? 'CODE: ' + code : '') + ((code && signal) ? ' ' : '') + ((signal) ? 'SIGNAL: ' + signal : '')) : undefined) }
+        SSHerror('STREAM CLOSE', err)
+        conn.end()
+      })
+
+      stream.stderr.on('data', function (data) {
+        console.log('STDERR: ' + data)
+      })
+    })
+  })
+
+  conn.on('end', function (err) { SSHerror('CONN END BY HOST', err) })
+  conn.on('close', function (err) { SSHerror('CONN CLOSE', err) })
+  conn.on('error', function (err) { SSHerror('CONN ERROR', err) })
+
+  conn.on('keyboard-interactive', function (name, instructions, instructionsLang, prompts, finish) {
+    debugWebSSH2('conn.on(\'keyboard-interactive\')')
+    finish([socket.request.session.userpassword])
+  })
+  if (socket.request.session.username && socket.request.session.userpassword) {
+    conn.connect({
+      host: socket.request.session.ssh.host,
+      port: socket.request.session.ssh.port,
+      username: socket.request.session.username,
+      password: socket.request.session.userpassword,
+      tryKeyboard: true,
+      // some cisco routers need the these cipher strings
+      algorithms: socket.request.session.ssh.algorithms,
+      debug: debug('ssh2')
+    })
+  } else {
+    console.warn('Attempt to connect without session.username/password defined, potentially previously abandoned client session. disconnecting websocket client.\r\nHandshake information: \r\n  ' + JSON.stringify(socket.handshake))
+    socket.emit('statusBackground', 'red')
+    socket.emit('status', 'WEBSOCKET ERROR - Reload and try again')
     socket.disconnect(true)
   }
 }
diff --git a/util/index.js b/util/index.js
index 1410f3a..ebbfa67 100644
--- a/util/index.js
+++ b/util/index.js
@@ -1,10 +1,13 @@
+// private
+require('colors') // allow for color property extensions in log messages
 var debug = require('debug')('WebSSH2')
-var colors = require('colors')
 var Auth = require('basic-auth')
+var util = require('util')
 
 console.warn = makeColorConsole(console.warn, 'yellow')
 console.error = makeColorConsole(console.error, 'red')
 
+// public
 function makeColorConsole (fct, color) {
   return function () {
     for (var i in arguments) {
@@ -19,7 +22,7 @@ exports.basicAuth = function (req, res, next) {
   if (myAuth) {
     req.session.username = myAuth.name
     req.session.userpassword = myAuth.pass
-    debug('myAuth.name: ' + myAuth.name + ' and password ' + ((myAuth.pass) ? 'exists' : 'is blank'.underline.red))
+    debug('myAuth.name: ' + myAuth.name.yellow.bold.underline + ' and password ' + ((myAuth.pass) ? 'exists'.yellow.bold.underline : 'is blank'.underline.red.bold))
     next()
   } else {
     res.statusCode = 401
@@ -28,3 +31,10 @@ exports.basicAuth = function (req, res, next) {
     res.end('Username and password required for web SSH service.')
   }
 }
+
+// expects headers to be a JSON object, will replace authroization header with 'Sanatized//Exists'
+// we don't want to log basic auth header since it contains a password...
+exports.SanatizeHeaders = function (headers) {
+  if (headers.authorization) { headers.authorization = 'Sanitized//Exists' }
+  return (headers)
+}