Safest way to use remote access software such as VNC or Boscos Screen Share?

[Jem]

Recently I have had several opportunities to make use of Boscos Screen Share to help resolve client problems remotely.

Everything worked fine, but afterwards I got to thinking about information might theoretically be vulnerable to snooping eyes during transmission of data in such a session.

In Boscos, it is my understanding that the data is sent in a series of screenshot (or partial screenshot) images. So searching the data stream for text such as passwords might be difficult. But the images themselves could be grabbed as a set since it seems they are sent in the clear. Obviously this could make private info in the screenshots accessible to others, and is thus a security concern at some level.

What do others that use this type of software think about these vulnerabilities, and are there better (more secure) ways to use these technologies that protect the privacy of the data between the two involved computers?

I suspect that adding encryption at both ends might increase the complexity of the initial setup, and might also slow the speed of transmission between the two computers. Any thoughts on this? Do you use something other than Boscos?

I love the simplicity of Boscos (especially for my clients!) but am concerned about the liabilities associated with not protecting the privacy of their data (and mine!)

Thanks!

[Golfer]

You can use VNC inside a SSH tunnel, but it would require the appropriate port forwarding settings on each end, assuming there are routers or firewalls active on each end. Not overly difficult, but some work required.