What is SSH?

The Impact of Secure Shell (SSH) on Cybersecurity: An Overview of Benefits and Applications

Secure Shell (SSH) is an essential protocol within the landscape of cybersecurity. It was designed to provide a secure method of accessing networked resources, offering an encrypted alternative to the traditionally insecure arrangements, like Telnet, rlogin, and FTP, which transmit information, including login details, in plaintext. The SSH protocol protects communications from potential eavesdropping threats affecting both users and systems, thereby playing a pivotal role within the sphere of cybersecurity.

Being born in the 1990s, SSH was created by Tatu Ylönen, a Finnish researcher, disturbed when he analysed network packet data and figured out how easy it was for hackers to access networked resources. Today, it is one of the core components in systems, network, and security administration activities.

SSH essentially uses public-key and symmetrical cryptography to authenticate users and encrypt their communications over a network. SSH consists of a server and a client. The SSH client initiates connection requests to the SSH server, enabling secure shell connections. It works through a pair of keys, i.e., private and public encryption keys. The public key remains on the SSH server, while the client holds onto the private key.

The SSH protocol provides secure data exchange between two computers, ensuring both authenticity and confidentiality. The authentication is assured by the use of digital signatures while the confidentiality is maintained through key encryption. The confidentiality given to the data traveling across the network ensures that sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and other user data stay out of reach of cybercriminals. SSH can offer an extra layer of security through the technique called port forwarding, which further shields your system by tunnelling applications over a secondary encrypted channel.

SSH actively protects against numerous attack vectors. For instance, IP source routing, where an attacker determines the route of a packet, and IP spoofing, pretending to be a trusted host, can both be mitigated by the Secure Shell. Replay attacks, where a malicious actor intercepts the data and retransmits it, might also be avoided through the Secure Shell implementation. Cross-platform attacks, password brute-forcing, and untrusted networks, are further examples of where SSH protocol plays a significant role.

SSL and SSH differ substantially despite their similar abbreviations and the shared goal of secure transmissions.

SSH FAQs