FTP security and cost

When organizations look for a better way to exchange files, they often turn to FTP (File Transfer Protocol). Network engineers and system administrators have used it since the early days of the internet, and because it's widely available for free, it has found its way into organizations of every size.

But FTP was not designed as an end-user application, and security was never a design goal. Organizations that build out FTP infrastructure soon find it isn't really free either.

FTP is complex to use and manage

• Complex installation. Setting up an FTP server is error-prone, and default configurations need significant manual work to close well-known security holes.
• Manual account creation. New accounts add to administrators' workloads and can take days, which is too slow for time-sensitive transfers.
• No user management. There's no easy way to reset passwords, see who has active accounts, or find out who accessed a file.
• No delivery guarantee. FTP is often called "send and pray." If a file doesn't arrive, nobody is told and nothing is resent. Finding lost files is one of the hardest problems FTP admins face.
• No recipient notification. Senders have to phone or email recipients to tell them a file is waiting.
• Manual storage management. Files stay until someone deletes them, so admins are left cleaning up accounts and files by hand.
• Too technical for business users. Training non-technical staff is expensive, and troubleshooting their problems takes time.

All of this adds up. Every free FTP server carries real costs in operating systems, hardware, rack space, bandwidth and administration.

FTP is a security risk

• No encryption. The FTP specification doesn't encrypt anything, so user names, passwords, commands and files can be captured by anyone on the network with a packet sniffer.
• Anonymous access. Many servers allow anonymous logins by default, which can turn them into a store for illicit material or a launch point for attacks.
• Forgotten data. Files stay on the server until someone deletes them. An Associated Press survey once found dozens of sensitive military-related documents openly available on FTP servers.
• No integrity checks. Neither side can confirm that a transfer completed or that the file arrived intact.
• Insecure configurations. Default installations are notorious for giving users access to data not meant for them.
• Forgotten processes. FTP is often buried in automated scripts that keep moving files long after anyone remembers they exist.
• Shared accounts. To avoid user management, many companies create one shared login for all clients, letting every client see everyone else's data.

High-profile FTP breaches have shown the need to replace basic FTP. Many organizations still haven't faced the risks of using this aging technology to move important data in and out of the company.