telnet stands for Telecommunications Network. Telnet is based on the telnet protocol that provides the ability to connect to computers or servers over the Internet as well as having the ability to control remote Unix based systems. Like most Internet applications and protocols telnet uses a standard port number, which in this case is port 23. However different telnet ports can be used by the server that the client is connecting to. Unlike most things, telnet has remained very much the same as it did when it was created and as such has a text based command driven interface, which may deter some but for those who appreciate it find telnet is a very useful tool.

How secure is Telnet?

The short answer to this is simple, but not very! Telnet is not encrypted at all so if a skilled hacker is listening to a telnet session they could theoretically log all of the data being transferred, including usernames and passwords. There are however more secure variations of telnet available, otherwise known as Secure Shell (SSH). SSH is simply a secure variation of telnet using encryption methods to provide extensive security measures.

How to access telnet

In order to access telnet within Windows simply click on Start, select Run and type in telnet before clicking on OK.

The telnet application that comes with Windows varies slightly dependent on the Windows versions.
If you are using Mac OS you will have to download a telnet application. There are various Mac telnet applications available to download, one can be found at www.mactelnet.com. Thankfully, MAC OSX comes with it's own telnet application so there is no need to download one.