It is technically possible for someone to set up what is known as a "sniffer" on a network. This is a program which looks at the content of the packets on the network as they float by. Generally, this is done to try and discover a user's password, which is often transmitted in plain text by many programs. Such a sniffer could be located anywhere on the path between you and our server.
When you connect to our server via telnet to use the terminal version of the Account Manager,
your telnet client transmits your password in plain text, so it can be easily "sniffed".
For this reason, we recommend that you use SSH instead. With SSH, your entire
connection (including your password) is encrypted, making it impossible to sniff your password.
There are a few programs out there that support SSH. One such program for Windows users
which we have been using for a while and are quite happy with is Tera Term Pro, with
the TTSSH extension. You can download this free program at
http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA002416/teraterm.html. You will also need the free TTSSH extension which can be
downloaded at
http://www.zip.com.au/~roca/ttssh.html
If you use a different
operating system, or would prefer to use a different program, they are out there... A 'net
search for SSH clients should do the trick.
Note: Another alternative to downloading a different telnet program would be to set up
an SSH tunnel from port 23 on your local computer to port 23 at twistedbits.net.
Click here for more details.