FTP Security Concerns

One significant issue with FTP is that usernames and passwords are communicated between client and host in clear text. This is a potential security concern. For this reason, secure methods of copying files such as SFTP, discussed later, are becoming more commonly used.

FTP is platform independent, meaning that all the common network operating systems offer FTP server capabilities. In addition, all commonly used client operating systems offer FTP client functionality. Alternatively, third-party utilities such as SmartFTP and CuteFTP are often used.

There are several commands that can be used with FTP. Table 5 lists the commands that are used with the FTP protocol.

Table 5 FTP Commands
Command	Purpose
ls	Lists the files in the current directory on the remote system.
cd	Changes the working directory on the remote host.
lcd	Changes the working directory on the local host.
put	Uploads a single file to the remote host.
get	Downloads a single file from the remote host.
mput	Uploads multiple files to the remote host.
mget	Downloads multiple files from the remote host.
binary	Switches transfers into binary mode.
ascii	Switches transfers into ASCII mode (the default).

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