SSH vs SSL

SSH vs SSL: Differences

Confused with the terms SSH and SSL? Both of these are technologies that encrypt and authenticate the data that passes between two computers. SSH is one of the commonly used security protocols.

Besides, SSL is one of the most common terms as it keeps your website secure. It basically encrypts the data that transmits between your web server and the web browser. It adds a “green padlock” in the web browser and also Google gives preferences to sites having an SSL certificate.

In this guide, we’ll understand the differences between SSH and SSL .

What is SSL?

SSL means Secure Sockets Layer. It’s a protocol that’s designed mainly to protect data transmission between two different parties with authentication and encryption.

Mostly, the transmission takes place between the web browser and the web server of the site they’re visiting.

Related: How to activate Let’s Encrypt SSL Certificate for Your Website?

Here are the advantages of SSL:

• Encryption: SSL encrypts the data while it’s moving, thus there are no chances of the data getting hacked.
• Authentication: SSL also authenticates the data that is being sent and received from the server, preventing you from different attacks.

SSL basically works by using certificates, thus it’s called “SSL Certificates.” Like SSL helps in authenticating the server, it does not require authentication from the client.

An SSL certificate is a must-have for a website.

Related: How to Enable SSH Access for a New and Existing cPanel Account?

What is SSH?

SSH basically stands for Secure Shell. SSH gives you a secure way to remotely log in to other computers and issue the commands, for ex: your web server.

With SSH tunneling, you can easily create an encrypted connection between a client (i.e your computer) and your website’s server.

For creating this secure SSH tunneling, you need to either authenticate using the username/password or a set of public/private keys.

Related: How to Enable SSH Access for a New and Existing cPanel Account?

Differences Between SSH and SSL

• SSH uses port 22, on the other hand, SSL uses port 443
• SSH makes use of username/password authentication for establishing a secure connection, however, SSL does not.
• SSH is network tunneling based, and SSL is based on certificates.
• SSL is responsible for encryption between web server and browser, whereas, SSH is used to encrypt the communications between computers on the internet.
• SSH secures the computer network, and SSL secures the online transfer of data.

To Conclude

SSH and SSL both help you tocreate a secure connection. However, both of them have different purposes. SSL basically is used to encrypt the data that passes between your website visitors and web browsers.

Besides, SSH lets you securely login to the remote machine so that you can make use of commands, handle all the work, and more.