SCP is an Acronym for "Secure Copy", a file transfer Protocol used by scp(1). scp(1) is designed to be a secure replacement without the weaknesses of rcp(1). The latter uses a completely unencrypted connection which allows anyone on the network to evesdrop on both the credentials as well the contents of files being transferred. which was well known to be insecure. In contrast, scp(1) uses a SSH tunnel. This also allows you to use an authorized_keys file (see SSHKeys) -- which is more convenient than rcp(1) and more secure. What else could you want?
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