freebsd-ports/security/ssh/pkg-descr

Secure Shell is a program to log into another computer over a network,
to execute commands in a remote machine, and to move files from one
machine to another.  It provides strong authentication and secure
communications over insecure channels.  It is inteded as a replacement
for rlogin, rsh, and rcp.

FEATURES

 o  Complete replacement for rlogin, rsh, and rcp.

 o  Strong authentication.  Closes several security holes (e.g., IP,
    routing, and DNS spoofing).  New authentication methods: .rhosts
    together with RSA based host authentication, and pure RSA
    authentication.

 o  Improved privacy.  All communications are automatically and
    transparently encrypted.  RSA is used for key exchange, and a
    conventional cipher (normally IDEA, DES, or triple-DES) for
    encrypting the session.  Encryption is started before
    authentication, and no passwords or other information is
    transmitted in the clear.  Encryption is also used to protect
    against spoofed packets.

 o  Secure X11 sessions.  The program automatically sets DISPLAY on
    the server machine, and forwards any X11 connections over the
    secure channel.  Fake Xauthority information is automatically
    generated and forwarded to the remote machine; the local client
    automatically examines incoming X11 connections and replaces the
    fake authorization data with the real data (never telling the 
    remote machine the real information).

 o  Arbitrary TCP/IP ports can be redirected through the encrypted channel
    in both directions (e.g., for e-cash transactions).

 o  No retraining needed for normal users; everything happens
    automatically, and old .rhosts files will work with strong
    authentication if administration installs host key files.

 o  Never trusts the network.  Minimal trust on the remote side of
    the connection.  Minimal trust on domain name servers.  Pure RSA
    authentication never trusts anything but the private key.

 o  Client RSA-authenticates the server machine in the beginning of
    every connection to prevent trojan horses (by routing or DNS
    spoofing) and man-in-the-middle attacks, and the server
    RSA-authenticates the client machine before accepting .rhosts or
    /etc/hosts.equiv authentication (to prevent DNS, routing, or
    IP-spoofing).

 o  Host authentication key distribution can be centrally by the
    administration, automatically when the first connection is made
    to a machine (the key obtained on the first connection will be
    recorded and used for authentication in the future), or manually
    by each user for his/her own use.  The central and per-user host
    key repositories are both used and complement each other.  Host
    keys can be generated centrally or automatically when the software
    is installed.  Host authentication keys are typically 1024 bits.

 o  Any user can create any number of user authentication RSA keys for
    his/her own use.  Each user has a file which lists the RSA public
    keys for which proof of possession of the corresponding private
    key is accepted as authentication.  User authentication keys are
    typically 1024 bits.

 o  The server program has its own server RSA key which is
    automatically regenerated every hour.  This key is never saved in
    any file.  Exchanged session keys are encrypted using both the
    server key and the server host key.  The purpose of the separate
    server key is to make it impossible to decipher a captured session by
    breaking into the server machine at a later time; one hour from
    the connection even the server machine cannot decipher the session
    key.  The key regeneration interval is configurable.  The server
    key is normally 768 bits.

 o  An authentication agent, running in the user's laptop or local
    workstation, can be used to hold the user's RSA authentication
    keys.  Ssh automatically forwards the connection to the
    authentication agent over any connections, and there is no need to
    store the RSA authentication keys on any machine in the network
    (except the user's own local machine).  The authentication
    protocols never reveal the keys; they can only be used to verify
    that the user's agent has a certain key.  Eventually the agent
    could rely on a smart card to perform all authentication
    computations.

 o  The software can be installed and used (with restricted
    functionality) even without root privileges.

 o  The client is customizable in system-wide and per-user
    configuration files.  Most aspects of the client's operation can
    be configured.  Different options can be specified on a per-host basis.

 o  Automatically executes conventional rsh (after displaying a
    warning) if the server machine is not running sshd.

 o  Optional compression of all data with gzip (including forwarded X11
    and TCP/IP port data), which may result in significant speedups on
    slow connections.