FTP (File Transfer Protocol) was the standard for transferring files from the early days of the Internet. The most remarkable feature about FTP is that it is independent of the operating system. Files can easily switch between Unix, Windows and other operating systems are transmitted. The other feature of FTP is a simple authentication mechanism consisting of a user name and password can restrict access to files. However, the data itself is transmitted in plain text and it was easy to see and hear an FTP connection.

The Internet itself was quite insignificant integrated security. Composed of many small, independent networks that stretched around the world, the way of a package of information had to was unpredictable from point A to point B. With the ubiquity of the Internet it was necessary to be able to send many types of sensitive data with some confidence. Netscape Communications solved the problem of Internet security through the creation of the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), public key cryptography to encrypt data broadcasting over the Internet. It is still the preferred security mechanism and is implemented by all browsers. released

FTPS Encrypted File Transfer Changes />

HTTPS encrypted file transfer
Since a web browser is already encrypted in the position data with SSL, easy downloads and uploads can be made directly from a Web browser over HTTPS. This means that the FTP client is not required.

SFTP Encrypted File Transfer Secure Shell SSH and when it was developed by Tatu Ylönen to enable secure remote access using public key cryptography and replace Telnet shells and other shells of insecurity. This protocol was developed to provide support as a file transfer mechanism known as SFTP. The main advantage of this mechanism is that it is not necessary to open a second data channel connection for transferring files.

All three methods of secure file transfer based on public keys and all are also able to transfer files over the Internet. The only disadvantage of these methods is that there is an increase in the data related to encrypted files. There is also an associated performance overhead with encryption of files on the source and decrypting them at the destination. For this reason, system administrators sometimes use regular FTP file transfers in a secure internal network. However, to transfer files over the Internet, there is a small price to pay for peace of mind that sensitive files reach their destination without been intercepted or tampered with.


Windows FTP Server