Most of the traditional remote access methods to a computer network are insecure. Telnet, rlogin and rsh make use of unencrypted channels for the transmission of all data, including userids and passwords. This lack of encryption allows the network data to be snooped and has caused the majority of security problems experienced by the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, as in most other departments.
To help curb this problem we have set up Secure Shell Daemons on all departmental Unix machines. Currently, the use of the SSH protocol as opposed to the insecure methods is highly recommended, but not required. At the beginning of the Fall semester of 2000, usage of these secure access methods will become mandatory. This page is designed to help promote the use of these protocols by listing various commercial and free remote access clients that support SSH.
It is our intention to eventually make available (either locally or via OIT) a CD-ROM containing the SSH clients for major platforms. Until that time, the free clients can be downloaded from the World Wide Web at the URLs listed below.
| Platform | SSH Client | Installation Instructions |
| Windows 3.1/95/98/NT/2000 | TTSSH:
An SSH Extension to Teraterm
|
Instructions |
| SSH | None yet | |
| Macintosh | NiftyTelnet 1.1 SSH | None yet |
| LINUX!! | Original SSH - source
|
gunzip, compile, install, repeat... does anyone else get nervous that the US government is one of the official SSH mirrors? |
| Original SSH - RPM | If you're running linux, you should know how to use an RPM :-) | |
| Java Based | MindTerm
|
None yet |
| Local Installation of MindTerm - access SSH from the WEB! - requires a JAVA enabled browser | None yet |
Commercial clients also exist, information about them is listed below.
| Platform | SSH Client | Installation Instructions |
| Windows 3.1/95/98/NT/2000 |
SecureCRT - available for $20.00 through OIT site license (for Duke faculty, staff and students only).
|
None yet |
| F-Secure | None yet | |
| Macintosh | F-Secure - available for $34.50 through OIT site license (for Duke faculty, staff and students only). | None yet |
For more up to date information regarding free and commercial SSH clients, check out the SSH FAQ. Please note that eventually we will have instructions for installing these clients (at least the free and non-commercially supported ones), however, until that time, for help in installing these clients, please contact
ECE Computer Help