Secure your FTP by using SFTP

Whilst we're talking about accessing your web site via FTP (see previous post re FileZilla) it is worth considering using SFTP to connect to your website instead of FTP. FTP transmits not only the data you send to the website in an unencrypted form, but it connects to the website by sending your user name and password in plain text over the internet! Secure ftp, or SFTP, encrypts everything so no packet sniffers or malware have a chance to see what data you are transferring NOR will they get the chance to see your ftp user name and password and wreak havoc on your website in the future.

You will need a good FTP program (again smartFTP professional handles this perfectly) and a good webhost who allows you connect via SFTP. Obviously at WebSanity we use SFTP and the hosting that we offer our web design clients includes SFTP capability right out of the box.