telnet is no longer supported; please use SSH instead
One of the features of our hosting plans is the ability for technically advanced customers to use the Unix (Linux) command-line shell.
Until now, there have been two ways to connect to the shell: you could use telnet, or use SSH (which stands for “secure shell”).
The older telnet method dates to 1969 (that’s not a typo) and is not secure: it sends your account password without any encryption, allowing it to be seen by eavesdroppers on your local network (such as other people in a Wi-Fi cafe).
SSH, as you can guess from the “secure” in its name, fixes this — and more: Anything you can do with telnet, you can do with SSH.
Telnet should never be used anymore. Everyone should always use SSH. We have a page explaining how to use SSH with your site.
Our logs show that almost all of our customers are already using SSH instead of telnet. Because of that, and because there are several ongoing “denial of service” attacks involving telnet, we’re disabling telnet as a shell connection method to increase the security of our servers. Please use SSH instead.
Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns.
