In a quick post from PHPComplete.com:

Just a little heads up - SSH is coming to PHP. libssh2 is the start, and we should see something in PECL in a few days. At least, that's what I am being told.

I for one am eagerly looking forward to this.

And, from libssh.org: libssh2 is a C library implementing the SSH2 protocol. Some of the supported cyphers include aes256-cbc, blowfish-cbc, 3des-cbc and supported hostkey types are ssh-rsa, and ssh-dss.

Looks like this could definitely be the start of something good...

UPDATE: apparently the PECL extension is *not* going to use this libssh2 as its basis due largely to a frustration with its current state. Instead, look for the PECL extension to have its own extension written from scratch.