Overview of the SSH protocol.
SSH (Secure SHell) is a secure replacement for TELNET, rcp, rlogin, rsh (for login, remote execution of
commands, file transfer).
Security-wise SSH provides confidentiality (nobody can read the message content), integrity (guarantee that data is unaltered in transit) and authentication (of client and server). This provides protection against many of the possible attack vectors like IP spoofing, DNS spoofing, Password interception and eavesdropping.
SSH exists in 2 versions. SSH-2 fixes some of the shortcomings of SSH-1 so it should be used in place of SSH-1.
SSH also comes with features that in itself raise security concerns like tunneling and port forwarding.