Some of the popular network security protocols include Secure Shell (SSH), Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) and Secure Socket Layer (SSL) etc.

SSH – Secure Shell

It is a program to log into another computer over a network, to execute commands in a remote machine, and to move files from one machine to another. It provides strong authentication and secure communications over insecure channels. SSH protects a network from attacks such as IP spoofing, IP source routing, and DNS spoofing. An attacker cannot play back the traffic or hijack the connection when encryption is enabled. During ssh login; the entire login session including transmission of password is encrypted; therefore it is almost impossible for an outsider to collect passwords.

SFTP- Secure File Transfer Protocol

In computing, the SSH File Transfer Protocol (also Secure File Transfer Protocol, or SFTP) is a network protocol that provides file access, file transfer, and file management over any reliable data stream. It was designed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) as an extension of the Secure Shell protocol (SSH) version 2.0 to provide secure file transfer capabilities.

The IETF Internet Draft states that, even though this protocol is described in the context of the SSH-2 protocol, it could be used in a number of different applications, such as secure file transfer over Transport Layer Security (TLS) and transfer of management information in VPN applications.

HTTPS – HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS)

The principal motivation for HTTPS is authentication of the accessed website and protection of the privacy and integrity of the exchanged data. It protects against man-in-the-middle attacks. The bidirectional encryption of communications between a client and server protects against eavesdropping and tampering of the communication.

In practice, this provides a reasonable assurance that one is communicating without interference by attackers with the website that one intended to communicate with, as opposed to an impostor.

SSL- Secure Socket Layer

It is a protocol that provides a secure channel between two machines operating over the Internet or an internal network. It is typically used when a web browser needs to securely connect to a web server over the inherently insecure Internet. In practice, SSL is used to secure online credit card transactions system logins and any sensitive information exchanged online; to secure the connection between an email client such as Microsoft Outlook and an email server such as Microsoft Exchange, to secure intranet based traffic such as internal networks, file sharing, extranets, and database connections etc.