SSH usernames

[mathcolo]

Simple question that I cannot find the answer to:

When you login to a server using SSH, is the username sent encrypted or is it sent in the clear?

I googled and couldn't find the answer... 😕

 

[manowarwi]

It is my understanding (I don't want to say its a fact) that the first step of SSH is establishing the encryption (Public Keys, Private Keys, RSA, etc) and then the username and password is sent encrypted.