By Hugh Garber -

I came across this fantastic article written by Ray Zadjmool on how to secure your file transfer server. Following these tips will help ensure a secure file transfer solution.
TIP # 1: Disable Anonymous Access.
TIP # 2: Enable Logging.
TIP # 3: Harden your ACLS.
TIP # 4: Setup your FTP site as Blind Put.
TIP # 5: Enable Disk Quotas.
TIP # 6: Use Logon Time Restrictions.
TIP # 7: Restrict Access by IP.
TIP # 8: Audit Logon Events.
TIP #9: Enable Strong Password Requirement.
TIP # 10: Enable Account Lockout and Account Lockout Threshold.
It has been a few years since the article was updated, but the advice is still rock solid. However, there is one big tip that I believe is missing:
MY TIP #1A: Use encrypted protocols such as SSH / SFTP or SSL / FTPS.
FTPplanet.com has tons or blog entries about the security measures you can take for transferring files, both for end user clients as well as for servers…. and we will continue to do so as this an increasingly important topic for anyone who moves files over the Interent.

By Erik Small -

Does a Red Sox World Series Championship and a white paper on Secure File Transfer have anything in common? Not really, but at FTPPlanet we wanted to kick off this Monday celebrating the Red Sox and also give any visitors coming to FTPPlanet a chance to dive deep into how FTP is transitioning into a phase referred to as Secure File Transfer.
A white paper is available for free on the WS_FTP website.
“Evolution from FTP to Secure File Transfer” was written
by David Stelzl, CISSP — This paper will discuss how secure, reliable and manageable file transfer solutions can help your organization achieve its key business goals while reducing the amount of organizational distraction caused by not having a well understood and managed file transfer process that is aligned and integrated with your core business processes.
Enjoy the white paper and go Red Sox in 2008!
http://www.ipswitch.com/products/ws_ftp-server/compliance_evolution/index.aspx?qProduct=ws_ftp_server&qDemo=evolution_whitepaper_0607

By Hugh Garber -

Here’s a great introductory article on FTP that I found on the AssistProgramming website. The article walks through an example of uploading your website to a server for publishing (ie: transferring the files for your website from your computer to the server).
The article walks through some details of using a file transfer client and has some nifty example screenshots.
Although AssistProgramming uses the SmartFTP client in its example, it also mentions WS_FTP. I have used SmartFTP in the past and it’s pretty good but I believe that the WS_FTP Professional secure file transfer client is easier to use, it’s faster and it’s much much more secure.

By Erik Small -

If you have questions about a file transfer or FTP problem, try the FTPPlanet Discussion Forums. It may be an easy way to get feedback from other experts and users of FTP and any file transfer function.
The Discussion Forums can be found here using this link.

By Hugh Garber -

It seems that Comcast is worried that its infrastructure can’t handle the huge amount of file sharing traffic on their network and that the traffic is beginning to affect the speed of other subscriber connections.
Even worse, Comcast has started to block Internet subscribers who are using file sharing services. Comcast customers can download all the BitTorrent and other peer-to-peer content that they want without a problem. However, when they in turn try to upload it to other BitTorrent/P2P users, Comcast forbids the file transfer from completing.
This is troubling for soooo many reasons. Of course, there is no FTP or SSH throttling mentioned by Comcast yet so that’s a good thing for now, but something tells me that they may try to extend their walled-garden at some point…. and other ISPs might follow.
The only benefit I can think of us that it will hinder potential pirates in their tracks, but at the same time there are millions and millions of people using FTP and P2P every day to legally share and move all types of files.
This is a great example of why Comcast is my X-ISP!

By Erik Small -

A solid review of WS_FTP Server 6 with SSH appeared in Bios Magazine from the UK.
Click here to see the review of WS_FTP Server 6 with SSH.
The review describes Ipswitch’s WS_FTP Server as “Robust & reliable; powerful; secure; SSH & SSL support; customised logging; exceeds compliance requirements”.
For those just entering the secure file transfer arena, looking for a solution for your client or organization, this article really drills down to the basics.
>From the article:
“Security, auditing, high-availability and remote administration capabilities are vital to organisations seeking to protect data, audit file transfers and automate file transfer processes. And as the market is driven towards secure managed file transfer solutions, Ipswitch’s WS_FTP Server 6 and WS_FTP Server 6 with SSH have been designed to deliver a highly secure and flexible way to manage users and maximise file transfer speed for companies of all sizes.”

By Erik Small -

FTPPlanet found this deep-dive blog titled ‘Protocol’ about File Transfer Protocol and thought it’s an interesting read regarding the bottom-line basics of client and server file transfer protocol functionality.
Take a look!
http://aboutprotocol.blogspot.com/2007/10/file-transfer-protocol_11.html
Here’s the opening couple paragraphs as an intro:
FTP or File Transfer Protocol is used to transfer data from one computer to another over the Internet, or through a network.
Specifically, FTP is a commonly used protocol for exchanging files over any network that supports the TCP/IP protocol (such as the Internet or an intranet). There are two computers involved in an FTP transfer: a server and a client. The FTP server, running FTP server software, listens on the network for connection requests from other computers. The client computer, running FTP client software, initiates a connection to the server. Once connected, the client can do a number of file manipulation operations such as uploading files to the server, download files from the server, rename or delete files on the server and so on. Any software company or individual programmer is able to create FTP server or client software because the protocol is an open standard. Virtually every computer platform supports the FTP protocol. This allows any computer connected to a TCP/IP based network to manipulate files on another computer on that network regardless of which operating systems are involved (if the computers permit FTP access). There are many existing FTP client and server programs. FTP servers can be set up anywhere between game servers, voice servers, internet hosts, and other physical servers.

By Erik Small -

FTPPlanet maintains a list of FTP codes that you may find helpful:
List of FTP codes
These codes appear in the ‘dialog’ box within your FTP program. These codes come from the FTP server, telling you the status of your requests. For example, when you attempt to connect to an FTP site the server returns codes 150 (Connecting) and code 226 (Complete).

By Erik Small -

Have you seen the latest recorded webinar available on the WS_FTP Server website? Check it out…it’s just a few minutes in length and provides a nice overview of the product.
Click here to access the free webinar.
What is WS_FTP Server you ask?
WS_FTP Server 6 with SSH is a highly secure, fully featured and easy-to-administer file transfer server that delivers powerful administrative control and best-in-class security. It features 256-bit AES transport encryption, SHA-512 file integrity, login authentication encryption, digital certificate management and strong password policies.

By Hugh Garber -

Nathan Johns from the SEOJR.com blog has written a great security checklist for webmasters.
Here are the summary bullets and check out the complete article for the details:
1. Check your server configuration.
2. Stay up-to-date w/ software updates & patches.
3. Regularly keep an eye on your log files.
4. Check your site for common vulnerabilities.
5. Be wary of third-party content providers.
6. Try a Google site: search to see what’s indexed.
7. Use Google’s Webmaster Tools.
8. Use secure protocols.
9. Read the Google Online Security Blog
10. Contact your hosting company for support.
Here’s a bit more detail on #8:
Use secure protocols: SSH and SFTP should be used for data transfer, rather than plain text protocols such as telnet or FTP. SSH and SFTP use encryption and are much safer.
Sound familiar?
As the Internet continues to evolve I believe that encryption will become a fundamental requirement for having any type of web presence. Here’s the link to download your free 30-day evaluation of WS_FTP Professional, the fastest and most secure file transfer client. Don’t wait until something bad happens to you….. Start being safe now

By Erik Small -

FTPPlanet.com’s parent company, Ipswitch, Inc., announced that it has reached the $1 million mark for charitable giving. It’s a fantastic achievement and a great outreach into the global community. Many of the contributions have helped serve young people, the poor, and homeless populations.
Read the full Boston Globe article.
“Some 100 charities have benefited from Ipswitch donations, Greene said, adding that the firm earmarks 5 percent of its annual profits for gift-giving. Most of the recipients are in Massachusetts and in Georgia, where the company has offices in Augusta and Atlanta.”…..

By Hugh Garber -

Lemme guess, you’re not fluent in the alphabet soup lingo of file transfer.
Well, the truth is its confusion as hell! We’ve got FTP, FTPS (also called SSL), and SFTP (also called SSH). But here is a great article on the Delphi300.com website that compares the differences between them.
Here’s the summary, but I definitely encourage you to check out the gory details….
* FTP — File Transfer Protocol. Popular and fast way of moving files between a client and a server. The problem with FTP is that it’s not secured by encryption, leaving files at risk of being compromised during transport.
* FTPS — File Transfer Protocol over SSL. FTPS is an encrypted flavor of the FTP protocol (kind of like how HTTPS is an encrypted flavor of HTTP).
* SFTP — SSH File Transfer Protocol. SFTP uses the Secure Shell (ie: SSH) protocol to encrypt all file transfer communications. SFTP is a bit more firewall friendly because it uses only 1 port and it’s also a bit more secure than FTPS. SFTP is gaining steam as the most preferred method of secure file transfer, particularly in infrastructures that favor unix but SFTP is quickly gaining steam in Windows environments as well.
Now go read the full article for more details!

By Erik Small -

What type of things are you accomplishing with FTP?
Here at FTPPlanet, we’re always interested to hear from our readers and users of our site.
Are you using FTP for Personal Work? Home Business? Hosting a Website? Are you part of a Medium or Large Business?
Tell us about it!