Almost every server at every web hosting company requires FTP (File Transfer Protocol) to be used for uploading files to that server.Now you’d think, wrongly I might add, that FTP is as safe as houses: After all it’s one of the oldest internet protocols in use today, and it’s been in use almost “forever”. – Surely HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) is the one to watch. – Hence the development of HTTPS (Secure HyperText Transfer Protocol – or Hypertext Transfer Protocol using Secure Socket Layer. (SSL)) 

- It would be nice to think that HTTP was the bad-guy and FTP was totally secure. – Just carry on transferring files with FTP totally worry-free, without a care in the world… OK time to burst the bubble: FTP is totally insecure. All data transferred via FTP can be read by any network device that it encounters during transfer. – Therefore if FTP travels across an unencrypted wireless network it can be read easily.

There is ABSOLUTELY NO SECURITY built into FTP.

But fret not: There is a solution… OK fret; because very few commercial servers actually support that solution.

The solution is Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP). This is a totally encrypted form of FTP.

Yippee! ‘Problem solved! ‘Use that instead and… Hold on – The problem, as mentioned above, is that SFTP is, technically, a separate protocol that many, in fact most, servers that demand FTP transfers are unable to support. Why? Because it requires a separate software package to be installed on the server in question, and many if not most web hosting companies just don’t bother doing so. In abbreviated chat terminology; they cba.(can’t be arsed).

Does your web-hosting company support SFTP? If so then perhaps you might like to comment and name them. – Because I’m sure I’ll have a number of readers passing by and reading this who’d be interested in having a secure FTP connection and would benefit from the knowledge. Thanks in advance for any comments. ‘Much appreciated.