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Home / Glossary / SSH
Glossary · Protocol

SSH

Secure Shell

In plain language

A secure way to log into another computer and run commands over the internet.

The metaphor

Like a private, armoured tunnel from your keyboard to a machine far away: nobody on the road in between can see or alter what passes through.

Going deeper

How it works

  • It encrypts the whole session between you and the other computer.
  • Keys can replace passwords and are much harder to steal or guess.
  • It is used by IT staff to manage servers, firewalls and web hosts.
  • An exposed login with a weak password invites constant guessing attempts.
In practice
  • A web developer logs into a hosting server with a key instead of a password.
  • An IT provider manages a firewall through an encrypted session.
  • A backup job copies files to a remote server using this tunnel.

A question owners ask

Do I need to know about SSH?

Probably not day to day. It is the tool your IT provider uses, and the question to ask is whether passwords are still allowed.

Related terms
AHAuthentication HeaderARPAddress Resolution ProtocolBGPBorder Gateway ProtocolCCMPCounter Mode/CBC-MAC ProtocolCHAPChallenge Handshake Authentication ProtocolCRCCyclical Redundancy CheckEAPExtensible Authentication ProtocolESPEncapsulated Security Payload

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