What is the SSH protocol?

To better understand what this protocol is, it is important to know that it is the acronym for the term Secure Socket Shell. In free translation, it means “Security Shell”, but it can be adapted to the term “Security Block”. 

Basically, SSH consists of one of the specific security protocols for exchanging files between client and server. For this reason, when it comes to security in your internet project, this protocol gains a lot of relevance.

The process of transferring data is an integral part of common tasks in the digital age and it is essential to ensure that it is secure. Therefore, this type of protocol is essential on a website, whether for businesses or homes.

The purpose of SSH is to allow developers or other users to make changes to websites and servers using a simple, secure connection. With this, through a device connected to the internet, the developer can configure and change files on a web page.

Generally speaking, this protocol creates a secure method and prevents these files and their code from being exposed or corrupted by third parties. This is where encryptions come in, allowing only two points to access the information, which is the server and the computer that sent the data to that remote location.

How did the SSH protocol come about and how does it work

SSH is a protocol that emerged in 1995. It was developed by programmer Tatu Ylonen, with the aim of solving an incident involving hackers at a Finnish university.

Today, the SSH protocol is used to manage more than half of the world's web servers, with a presence on almost all computers running Unix or Linux. This tool is part of the daily life of several professionals who work in the area of programming and in the development of security systems.

The SSH protocol can be used to configure, manage, monitor, and operate firewalls, routers, switches, and servers in digital networks and web environments.

In addition, it works through a public key that has the objective of verifying and authenticating the legitimacy of the server that the user intends to access (or vice versa). Access is then performed using a login and password. This feature can secure the connection.

One of the great advantages is that, through SSH, the user is able to establish a protection system for their website without compromising its performance. With this, SSH makes your project security more efficient, while also acting on file transfer.

Find out why this protocol is called Shell

We have already mentioned that SSH is the acronym for the term “Secure Shell”, but why is this protocol given that name? “Shell” in Portuguese means “shell”, “shell”, an element of protection. Imagine, for example, a turtle without its shell. Well then, in the universe of programming and computer languages, SSH also serves to protect.

It acts as a command interceptor that makes the connection between the user and the operating system. This shell, this “Shell”, executes the commands entered by the user through the keyboard, for example. From there, he starts getting answers.

SSH protocol encryption techniques

One of the main features of the SSH protocol is its encryption technology. It is through it that SSH transmits information between the user and the hosting server with maximum security. Therefore, the SSH protocol uses three encryption technologies, which we will see below. 

Symmetric Encryption

Also called Shared Key or Secret Share, this type of encryption uses a secret key. Through it, it is possible to transfer, encode and decode a message from the client and the server. 

Symmetric keys are used to encrypt encrypted communication. Therefore, both the client and the server use a secret key through a method that cannot be shown to a third party.

Creating a symmetric key involves using an algorithm change key. What changes in this algorithm is the fact that the key is never transmitted between the client and the hosting server. In this way, data sharing and manipulation occur independently, preventing the algorithm from being recognized by other users.

Also, in this type of encryption, each SSH session has its own key (token) . This requires advance authentication from the client, which must use a login password to access an external machine or server. 

Asymmetric Encryption

It uses two separate secret keys. These keys serve both to encode and to decode the communication process between the client and the server. Both are known as public-key and private-key. United, they form the public-private pair.

The public key, as its name suggests, is open. Through a complicated relationship between the two types of keys, the message is encoded by the machine's public key, which can only be decoded by the machine's private key.

This means that the public key does not decode its own messages, nor does something already encrypted by the private key. Therefore, the user who intends to decrypt public data must first have the corresponding private key.

hashing encryption

This type of encryption is also known as One-Way Hashing, which in Portuguese can be called “One-Way Encryption”. The Hashing Encryption process encompasses data and message encodings, but never the decoding of the same information.

Therefore, Hashing uses a single value for each entry and it cannot be exploited. This makes it as difficult as possible for decoding performed by third parties. In Hashing encryption, messages are authenticated using Hash-based codes. Only interested users are able to access it. This procedure promotes the security of this type of encryption.

 

Discover the main SSH tools

Developers can rely on SSH tools that serve to make their work easier. It is worth knowing some of them below. 

SmartTTY

This file has several features. The main ones are transferring files and directories, opening more than one tab and editing files on the server itself.

PuTTy

It is an SSH tool intended for Windows, Unix, and Linux. In addition to being open-source software, it establishes a coded tunnel between servers. 

It also allows accessing the server remotely, making it possible to impersonate it, allowing the user to make changes and installations as he deems necessary. 

 

OpenSSH

It works by preventing spying, data hijacking, and other types of damage caused by hackers. This tool provides several filtering features and authentication alternatives.

Security is everything on the internet

Digital security is an essential factor, whether managing an online store, the financial sector of a company or a website with multiple accesses.

 

In this context, when using SSH, the user has benefits acquired through encryption. It ensures remote access to computers and servers from anywhere without interfering with data protection or degrading performance.

Therefore, if you are a programming professional or just have a project on the internet, it is worth researching more information about the SSH protocol and its features.