SSH: What is it and how does Secure Shell work?
Posted: Sun Jan 19, 2025 4:30 am
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SSH: What it is and how it works Secure Shell: A Beginner's Guide
Secure Shell (SSH) is often essential for providing an encrypted channel over the Internet and is used as such in many web applications. Yet, despite this, many developers do not know much about it. This is a problem because with just a couple of tricks you can save a lot of time and energy.
Learn this popular cryptographic network protocol and become much more efficient at using it with this quick SSH tutorial.
Table of Contents view
What is SSH
SSH, or Secure Shell, is a remote administration cameroon phone number data that allows users to control and modify their remote servers over the Internet. The service was created as a secure replacement for unencrypted Telnet and uses cryptographic techniques to ensure that all communication to and from the remote server is encrypted. It provides a mechanism for authenticating a remote user, transferring input from the client to the host, and forwarding output back to the client.
The following figure shows a typical SSH window. Any Linux or macOS user can SSH into their remote server directly from the terminal window. Windows users can leverage SSH clients like Putty . You can execute shell commands the same way you would if you were physically operating the remote computer.
Example SSH connection showing how Secure Shell works
This SSH tutorial will cover the basics of how ssh works, including the technologies the protocol uses to provide a secure method of remote access. It will cover the different levels and types of encryption used, along with the purpose of each level.
How does SSH work?
If you are using Linux or Mac, using SSH is very simple. If you are using Windows, you will need to use an SSH client to open SSH connections. The most popular SSH client for Windows is PuTTY.
For Mac and Linux users, go to your Terminal program and then follow these steps:
The SSH command is made up of 3 distinct parts:
ssh {user}@{host}
The SSH key command tells the system that you want to open an encrypted Secure Shell connection. {user} represents the account you want to log in as. For example, you might want to log in as the root user , which is essentially synonymous with the system administrator with full rights to change anything on the system. {host} refers to the computer you want to log in to. This can be an IP address (e.g. 244.235.23.19) or a domain name (e.g. www.mydomain.com).
When you hit enter, you will be asked to enter the password for the requested account. When you type it, nothing will appear on the screen, but your password is, in effect, transmitted. Once you are finished typing, hit enter again. If your password is correct, you will be greeted with a remote terminal window.
Understanding the different SSH encryption techniques
The significant advantage that SSH offers over its predecessors is the use of encryption to ensure the secure transfer of information between the host and the client. Host refers to the remote server you are trying to access, while the client is the computer you are using to access the host. There are three different encryption technologies used by SSH:
Symmetric encryption
Asymmetric encryption
Hashing.
Symmetric encryption
Symmetric encryption is a form of encryption in which a secret key is used for both encryption and decryption of a message by both the client and the host. In effect, anyone who has the key can decrypt the message being transferred.
SSH: What it is and how it works Secure Shell: A Beginner's Guide
Secure Shell (SSH) is often essential for providing an encrypted channel over the Internet and is used as such in many web applications. Yet, despite this, many developers do not know much about it. This is a problem because with just a couple of tricks you can save a lot of time and energy.
Learn this popular cryptographic network protocol and become much more efficient at using it with this quick SSH tutorial.
Table of Contents view
What is SSH
SSH, or Secure Shell, is a remote administration cameroon phone number data that allows users to control and modify their remote servers over the Internet. The service was created as a secure replacement for unencrypted Telnet and uses cryptographic techniques to ensure that all communication to and from the remote server is encrypted. It provides a mechanism for authenticating a remote user, transferring input from the client to the host, and forwarding output back to the client.
The following figure shows a typical SSH window. Any Linux or macOS user can SSH into their remote server directly from the terminal window. Windows users can leverage SSH clients like Putty . You can execute shell commands the same way you would if you were physically operating the remote computer.
Example SSH connection showing how Secure Shell works
This SSH tutorial will cover the basics of how ssh works, including the technologies the protocol uses to provide a secure method of remote access. It will cover the different levels and types of encryption used, along with the purpose of each level.
How does SSH work?
If you are using Linux or Mac, using SSH is very simple. If you are using Windows, you will need to use an SSH client to open SSH connections. The most popular SSH client for Windows is PuTTY.
For Mac and Linux users, go to your Terminal program and then follow these steps:
The SSH command is made up of 3 distinct parts:
ssh {user}@{host}
The SSH key command tells the system that you want to open an encrypted Secure Shell connection. {user} represents the account you want to log in as. For example, you might want to log in as the root user , which is essentially synonymous with the system administrator with full rights to change anything on the system. {host} refers to the computer you want to log in to. This can be an IP address (e.g. 244.235.23.19) or a domain name (e.g. www.mydomain.com).
When you hit enter, you will be asked to enter the password for the requested account. When you type it, nothing will appear on the screen, but your password is, in effect, transmitted. Once you are finished typing, hit enter again. If your password is correct, you will be greeted with a remote terminal window.
Understanding the different SSH encryption techniques
The significant advantage that SSH offers over its predecessors is the use of encryption to ensure the secure transfer of information between the host and the client. Host refers to the remote server you are trying to access, while the client is the computer you are using to access the host. There are three different encryption technologies used by SSH:
Symmetric encryption
Asymmetric encryption
Hashing.
Symmetric encryption
Symmetric encryption is a form of encryption in which a secret key is used for both encryption and decryption of a message by both the client and the host. In effect, anyone who has the key can decrypt the message being transferred.