SSL/TLS vs SSH tunnel

[pcm81]

Couple day ago i tried setting up my phone for POP3 email access to my mail server (hosted in Bulgaria) and realized i did not know the TLS ports. I know them now but meanwhile i set-up SSH port forwarding from my phone through web server to my mail server POP3 port (web server and mail server are the same machine in BG).

This got me thinking:
Is there any practical security difference between using TLS for POP3 account vs. SSH tunnelling via SSH session to the mail server?

Thanks ahead

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I don't think so - assuming that all three methods are using the same encryption types, notwithstanding keys vs passwords, etc.

But the different traffic types might use different ports, which may work or not work depending on your situation. (For instance, if I'm at school, I can use an OpenVPN client to connect to my home network, but L2TP traffic is blocked by the campus firewall.) SSH tunneling tends to be a way around that.

 

[pcm81]

The email client as well as ssh client are installed on my 4G phone; so no port block issues there. Trying to make is harder for network provider or the big brother to read my emails by picking up the airwaves... No, not paranoid; don't even have password on my phone, but if someone is going to spy on me they got to do more than just fish for data packets on my cell network.

 

[Red Squirrel]

The nice thing with a SSH tunnel is that it can be setup in a pinch without requiring admin access to the client machine. You can setup SSH to run on a common port like 80 if you want and SSH tunnel to your home network on any machine with just putty pre-setup on a USB stick. Ex: a library, school, work comptuer etc.