Secure Shell (SSH)
If you need to connect to Unix or Linux servers, you may be familiar with utilities such as Telnet and FTP. Telnet lets you connect to a command prompt on a machine over the network. The FTP utility transfers files between your machine and a remote server.
If you are using either Telnet or FTP to connect to a sensitive
server, but you’re not also using a VPN, you are
probably exposing your password to anyone who can access the network
you’re connected to (perhaps you’re
on a public network at a wireless hotspot?), the network where the
remote server resides, and any network in between. (Ever wonder what
networks sit between you and a remote computer? Use the
tracert
command at the Windows XP Command Prompt
to trace the route between your computer and a remote host, as in
tracert www.oreilly.com).
Tip
Anonymous FTP, in which you use your email address as a password, is not a concern. This is because, as the name implies, all remote users are treated as anonymous guests, and, if the remote FTP server is configured properly, are accorded no privileges that could be abused.
If the remote server supports it, you can use the Secure Shell (SSH) protocol to work with a remote machine’s command prompt (replacing Telnet) or securely transfer files (replacing FTP). SSH Communications Security offers SSH utilities for Windows and other platforms. Open source variants include openssh (http://www.openssh.org), which is included with the Cygwin (http://www.cygwin.com) distribution, ...
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