It is a protocol suite tool which connects various networks and encypts traffic accordingly such as password access, login details etc. to keep it safe from all the kind of attacks. In a telnet session, the password is passed across the Internet which is yet unencrypted.
There are two versions that are available at present -
a) SSH1
b) SSH2 (FTP Supported)
There is also an alternative that was developed by OpenBSD project. It is completely accessible with SSH1 and SSH2. However, it is based upon OpenSSL. All the latest Linux versions are packaged with OpenSSH as well as OpenSSL