Which Protocol Provides Secure Remote Access To A Router?
Protocols Provide secure access to Router
Telnet Protocol
provides access to router or switch by an unencrypted connection i.e. it is not secure and can be hacked easily while SSH (Secure Shell) protocol provides secure access to the network devices by encrypting all traffic between routers, switches and other networking equipment.
SSH
Secure Shell is a network protocol that allows data to be exchanged using a secure channel between two networked devices.It provides secure access to routers by encrypting all traffic between routers, switches and other networking equipment.
Telnet VS SSH
Telnet is a process that uses TCP / IP protocol to establish connection with devices and is used for login into the device and is very easy to hack.
Telnet doesn’t provide any security as it sends data unencrypted so anything transmitted over this protocol can be captured and read by an attacker. So we cannot consider Telnet as a secure way of accessing Router or Network Devices.
Secure Shell (SSH) is a network protocol that allows data exchange through a secure channel between two networked devices over TCP/IP connections. SSH provides several types of authentication such as password based, public key based and host-based. SSH encrypts all traffic between two devices so it provides a secure connection.
Which one is Preferred and Secure
To access a router remotely, use either Telnet or SSH protocol because both provide secure access to a router or switch by an encrypted connection i.e. in can’t be hacked easily while telnet doesn’t provide any security as it sends data unencrypted so anything transmitted over this protocol can be captured and read by an attacker like password, username etc.. So we cannot consider Telnet as a secure way of accessing Router or Network Devices.
SSH Protocol is more preferred than Telnet for Remote Access of Routers because it uses encryption algorithms to transmit the packets of data across the network which makes it very difficult for someone to snoop the data being transferred from one host to another. SSH also provides authentication by using public key cryptography which makes it very much more secure than Telnet.
Benefits of Telnet
Allows a user to quickly alert a device that they are attempting to connect.
Telnet is platform independent i.e. it works on Windows, Unix and Linux operating systems Telnet protocol doesn’t require any additional software or hardware to work. The protocol can be used from almost anywhere because it uses a public switched telephone network (PSTN) which means one’s computer needs an Internet connection in order to communicate with the device using the telnet protocol.
Benefits of SSH
SSH provides secure access by encrypting all traffic between routers, switches and other networking equipment; so it is difficult for someone to snoop the data being transferred from one host to another.
SSH protocol can be used in place of Telnet protocol i.e. you don’t need both telnet and SSH protocols running on your system so this makes it very easy to disable telnet protocol without any side effects as compared to disabling the telnet service by removing appropriate entries from registry as explained here . SSH provides secure authentication by using public key cryptography which makes it very much more secure than Telnet. So we must use the SSH protocol instead of Telnet for Remote Access of Routers or Networking Equipment.
Limitations of Telnet
Telnet is a clear text protocol i.e. all data transmitted on Telnet is in clear text (unencrypted). So anyone who snoops on the data can easily read the information transferred between two devices that are connected through telnet protocol e.g. passwords, username etc..
There is no authentication mechanism provided by Telnet so anyone can access your device using Telnet Protocol if they know the IP address of your device.
Limitations of SSH
All data sent over SSH shall be encrypted but some older cryptographic algorithms used in SSH are found to be vulnerable some times; so it’s worth configuring ssh with newer encryption algorithms like AES 256 bit which makes it difficult for even the most powerful computer systems to crack the data. SSH uses TCP/IP protocol to establish a connection between two devices. So it won’t work if either of your end devices doesn’t have an internet connection. This may be annoying in some environments i.e. when you are trying to connect with your home network from office network on which internet is not available through VPN or any other means so you can only use telnet for this purpose if possible on your network otherwise you can consider using 3G or 4G dongles which can be plugged into routers to get Internet access via GPRS . If Internet Connection is available on both sides then there would be no need for extra hardware devices like dongles, it’s more efficient and cheaper than that..
Another disadvantage but not exactly a limitation is that SSH can be a bit complicated to configure initially because you need to set up RSA keys, encryption algorithms etc. but it is worth the effort for secure access of your equipment.
Conclusion
SSH provides secure authentication by using public key cryptography which makes it very much more secure than Telnet. So we must use the SSH protocol instead of Telnet for Remote Access of Routers or Networking Equipment. But there are some limitations of using SSH too like Internet Connection Availability on both side, Some older cryptographic algorithms used in ssh are found to be vulnerable sometimes so its better to use AES 256 bit instead, SSH uses TCP/IP for connection which may not work if internet connection is available on only one side etc.. but if you follow the instructions properly the limitations of SSH can be easily overcome. As compared to Telnet protocol SSH provided more security and flexibility too for remote management of routers or networking equipment.
