Secure Linux/UNIX access with PuTTY and OpenSSH

Many users have implemented Secure Shell (ssh) to provide protected access to a remote Linux system, but don't realize that by allowing password authentication, they are still open to brute-force attacks from anywhere on the internet. There are worms running rampant on the internet which do an effective job finding weak username/password combinations, and these are not stopped by the use of Secure Shell.

This Tech Tip details how to use the free PuTTY SSH client to connect to a Linux system running the OpenSSH server, all while using public key encryption and SSH agent support.