Other File-Sharing Methods
Despite the amount of ink I’ve devoted here to FTP, I’ve also said repeatedly that FTP is one of the least secure and least securable file-transfer techniques. The remainder of this chapter therefore concerns file-transfer mechanisms more appropriate for the exchange of nonpublic data between authenticated hosts and users.
SFTP and scp
The first FTP
alternative I’ll cover here is the most FTP-like:
Secure FTP (SFTP), part of
the Secure Shell (SSH) suit of tools. SSH was designed as a secure
replacement for the “r” commands
(rlogin, rsh, and
rcp), which like FTP, transmit all session data
in clear text, including authentication credentials. In contrast, SSH
transparently encrypts all its transactions from start to finish,
including authentication credentials: local logon credentials are
never exposed to network eavesdroppers. SSH offers a remarkable
combination of security and flexibility and is the primary topic of
Chapter 4.
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