However, FTP and FTPS have been around for a long time, and ther e are still many devices and clients that only support FTP or FTPS. The requirement to set up forwarding for these ports is a security concern in many environments and can make troubleshooting problems difficult. This necessitates a large numb er of open ports for a file transfer system. Both FTP and FTPS require multiple ports (one port to issue commands and a separate port for each and every directory listing or file transfer) to perform file transfer operation. While FTPS is a significant security improvement over FTP, both protocols have limitations. FTPS was introduced to solve these problems by adding secure TLS encryption and authentication to the FTP protocol. This can allow eavesdropping on passwords and data, as well as connection hijacking by malicious servers. It also provides no way for a server to prove to a client that the server is who it claims to be. Unfortunately, FTP is by default an insecure protocol, transferring commands and data over an unencrypted connection. Overview of Secure File Transfer ProtocolsįTP is the original File Transfer Protocol and enjoys wide support from a variety o f clients and devices. We will go into each protocol in more detail in the following sections. Hosting a file transfer server that provides several secure file transfer protocols options hel ps ensure your users will be able to securely exchange data. For example, some networks may lock down SSH SFTP access, while leaving HTTPS available. Supporting the most common file transfer protocols provides your users with the ability to pick the option that works best for their environment. You w ant to avoid allowing plain, unencrypted FTP if security is a primary concern (and isn’t it always?) but SFTP, FTPS, and HTTPS are all considered secure file transfer protocols. The short answer is to use a file transfer server that supports all three of the secure versions of those protocols. FTP over TLS (commonly referred to as FTPS or FTPES)īut which protocols will be best for your environment?.The venerable File Transfer Protocol (FTP).If you’re planning to install a secure file server to allow your clients or employees to securely share files, but you’re not sure which protocols to support, you have a lot of options:

File secure transfer