OpenSSH

OpenSSH, also known as OpenBSD Secure Shell, is a suite of network-level security tools based on the SSH protocol which help to secure network communications via the encryption of network traffic over multiple authentication methods and by providing secure tunneling capabilities. It was designed as a free and open source alternative to the proprietary SSH network protocol, developed by Tatu Ylönen and offered by SSH Communications Security, that is commonly used to secure data communications. OpenSSH is a project of the OpenBSD team and is funded via donations. SSH was originally developed with a license that allowed other developers or users to fork or create an off-shoot of the software with their own customizations. OpenSSH is a fork of one of those customizations and was first released as part of a unix-like operating system called OpenBSD in 1999. As part of the forking process, OpenSSH was released under a BSD license, an open source license which allows open manipulations and contributions. In order to effectively maintain the program, the OpenSSH project is developed under a policy of producing clean and audited code. OpenSSH is not a single computer program, but rather a suite of programs in the OpenBSD operating system that offers an alternative to unencrypted network communication protocols like FTP and Rlogin. While OpenSSH is not actively maintained for operating systems other than OpenBSD, a dedicated team occasionally releases a version that can be ported or used in an operating system other than the one it was originally intended for. This has allowed for OpenSSH and its derivatives to account for an almost 88% market share as of July of 2008.