How to Set Up a Secure Tunnel
By using the local port forwarding feature of Secure Shell or SSH, you can set up an encrypted tunnel on just about any network that allows SSH connections through its firewall. With this tunnel, you can either shield your traffic from curious eyes or re-route services to bypass network restrictions. Although SSH is typically run from the command line, graphical interfaces such as PuTTY have become very popular and provide a configurable GUI that you can use to set up a secure tunnel before connecting to a server.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
Using CLI
-
1
Open a terminal window or command prompt, depending on the operating system you are using.
-
2
Type "ssh -L localport:host:hostport sshserver" where localport is the port you will connect to, host is the host of the server you want to tunnel through the SSH server to, hostport is the port of that host service, and sshserver is the SSH server you will be using to tunnel through.
-
-
3
Press "Enter" to connect to the SSH server. Type your authentication details when prompted. After logging in, your tunnel will be set up and will remain secure for as long as your terminal window remains open.
Using PuTTY
-
4
Download and run the free PuTTY terminal client. (see Resources)
-
5
Type in the Hostname and Port of the SSH server you will be tunneling through. Choose "SSH" as the Protocol.
-
6
Click "Connection", "SSH", and then "Tunnels" from the menu on the left-hand side.
-
7
Type the port you will be locally connecting to while using this tunnel in the Source Port text field. Type in the Destination host that the tunnel will connect to and the port of the service on that host. Choose "Remote" from the radial buttons. Click "Add" to create this tunnel.
-
8
Click "Open" and enter your authentication details when asked. As long as PuTTY remains open, your encrypted tunnel will as well.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Using an SSH tunnel to secure your remote desktop or VNC (Virtual Network Computing) connection is a great way to keep curious eyes from stealing your desktop login credentials. Remote desktop connections, by default, are unsecure and can be easily hacked or compromised.
