Tuesday 29 December 2015
So lets start from Shell account.
What actually Shell account means ??
A shell account is a user account on a remote server, traditionally running under the Unix operating system, which gives access to a shell via a command-line (CLI) interface protocol such as telnet or SSH.
But it doesn't mean if you are having Windows or Mac OS you can't use this feature. By running SSH server on you system you can gain controls on via Command-line (CLI).
What is Telnet and its features ?
Telnet is a user command and an underlying TCP/IP protocol for accessing remote computers. Through Telnet, an administrator or another user can access someone else's computer remotely.
On the Web, HTTP and FTP protocols allow you to request specific files from remote computers, but not to actually be logged on as a user of that computer.
With Telnet, you log on as a regular user with whatever privileges you may have been granted to the specific application and data on that computer.
Is there any security issue or is it outdated ?
Telnet was initially developed in 1969, most users of networked computers were in the computer departments of academic institutions, or at large private and government research facilities.
Security was not nearly as much a concern as it became after the bandwidth explosion of the 1990s. The rise in the number of people with access to the Internet, and by extension the number of people attempting to hack other people's servers
Experts of SANS institute recommended to discontinue Telnet usage as:
- It doesn't encrypt any data sent over the connection which clearly means every data sent/received through this protocol is clearly transferred in plain text (including logins,usernames,passwords). Anybody having access to router,switch hub or gateway with a packet sniffer or analyzer is able to see what is going on through the connection.
- Many vulnerabilities were discovered on telnet protocol.
- Most implementations of Telnet have no authentication that would ensure communication is carried out between the two desired hosts and not any third computer is in middle of connection.
Due to these terrible reasons there is drop in telnet protocol usage and SSH is in use.
What is SSH ? Is it better than Telnet ?
Secure Shell, or SSH, is a cryptographic (encrypted) network protocol to allow remote login and other network services to operate securely over an unsecured network.
SSH provides a secure channel over an unsecured network in a client-server architecture, connecting an SSH client application with an SSH server.
Common applications include remote command-line login and remote command execution, but any network service can be secured with SSH
So by this we can say that SSH is far better than Telnet as its un-encrypted. After reading this much on Telnet I don't think anybody going to use Telnet. SSH have more better security and features than Telnet then why not to use it.
What are best possible things can you do with SSH ?
Tunneling or Port forwarding
For browsing the web through an encrypted proxy connection with SSH clients that support the SOCKS protocol.
For securely mounting a directory on a remote server as a filesystem on a local computer using SSHFS.
Secure file transfer (SCP) using SSH.
For using as a full-fledged encrypted VPN.
Note: This feature is only supported in OpenSSH server & clients
Is SSH supported by all OS ?
Yeah, nearly it supports all OS like Windows,Linux,Mac OS, Android, iOS, and many ARM based OS.
So, at last I want to say please have a try to SSH its really an interesting thing you should have a look.
In order to use SSH you need Shell account or computer running OpenSSH server.
In my next post I will write a tutorial on using SSH for beginners.
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