MySQL Workbench provides secured access to MySQL Instances and Servers using SSH. The follow FAQ formated blog post shows a few details on what this is and how it works.

What is SSH?
A secure shell and communications tool

Secure Shell

• Replaces older insecure telnet, rsh, rlogin, rcp
• Provides the same functionality with added security.
• Avoids passing clear text user-ids & passwords
• Supports strong encryption for user authentication

Secure communications

• All TCP traffic sent through ssh can be strongly encrypted.
• Means that various TCP protocols can be given the same strong level of encryption as the ssh channel.

How is SSH used in Workbench?
Two ways

• As a secure communication tunnel for Direct MySQL connections
• As a method to remotely …