we had some problems while deploying files to a maven repository. some got it working, some could not authenticate against the repo on windows machines although they were able to connect via ssh command line (cygwin).
if you get sth like

[INFO] [deploy:deploy]
[INFO] Retrieving previous build number from repo The authenticity of host 'shell.sourceforge.net' can't be established. DSA key fingerprint is 4c:68:03:d4:5c:58:a6:1d:9d:17:13:24:14:48:ba:99.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting? (yes/no): y
The authenticity of host 'shell.sourceforge.net' can't be established.
DSA key fingerprint is 4c:68:03:d4:5c:58:a6:1d:9d:17:13:24:14:48:ba:99.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting? (yes/no): yes
Password for [EMAIL PROTECTED]:
[WARNING] repository metadata for: 'snapshot  foo:bar:4.0.2-SNAPSHOT' could not be retrieved from repository: repo due to an error:  Authentication failed: Cannot connect. Reason: Auth fail
[INFO] Repository 'repo' will be blacklisted The authenticity of host 'shell.sourceforge.net' can't be established. DSA key fingerprint is 4c:68:03:d4:5c:58:a6:1d:9d:17:13:24:14:48:ba:99.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting? (yes/no): no [INFO]

while deploying a file to a maven repository, you get 2 options to resolve this:

1. switch from scp protocol to scpexe in order to use an external ssh command (e. g. cygwin on windows)
2. copy your .ssh directory into your user directory in “Dokumente und Einstellungen”/”Documents and Settings”

the internal ssh representation requires to find a .ssh directory in “Documents and Settings” as this is their ‘home directory’ on windows. by switching to an external ssh your *nix home directory (/home/user/.ssh) is used.