Encyclopedia

Bitvise

Proprietary secure remote access software developed for Windows

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors

1 min read
Source updated February 5, 2026

Bitvise is a proprietary secure remote access software developed for Windows and available as a client and server. The software is based on the Secure Shell (SSH) protocol, which provides a secure channel over an insecure network in a client-server architecture.

01Technology

Bitvise software implements version 2 of the Secure Shell (SSH) protocol, SFTP versions 3, 4, and 6, as well as SCP and FTPS according to publicly available standards.

02Development

The software is developed and published by Bitvise Limited. The first released product was Bitvise SSH Server, then named WinSSHD, in 2001, and it was shortly followed by Tunnelier, now Bitvise SSH Client. There have been 8 major releases of the software so far.

03Features

Both the server and client work with all desktop and server versions of Windows and allow for remote-based access using a tool like WinVNC. They provide a GUI as well as command-line interface to support SFTP, SSH, SCP, and VPN using the TCP/IP tunneling feature.

The software among other supports GSSAPI-enabled Kerberos 5 exchange and NTLM Kerberos 5 user authentication. It provides two-factor authentication and compatibility with RFC 6238 authenticator apps.

04Controversies

Bitvise owns and manages the domain putty.org which references to PuTTY, another SSH client for Windows. For many years, it linked to the official PuTTY distribution page along with promoting Bitvise's products. However, in July 2025 after being asked about this, Bitvise replied by posting the full email conversation, ignoring the anonymisation requests with a "Lol You fucking idiot." reply. After that, the putty.org website changed its contents to promote anti-vaccine theories.

Watch videos about BitviseExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Bitvise”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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