RE: Plain FTP - Using Encrypted Authentication.

FTPS <> FTP with session authentication encrypted.
FTPS has the entire session encrypted, not just the session
authentication.

Did someone actually read the suggestion to check out wikipedia???

<snip>
For secure transmission that protects the username and password,
and encrypts the content,
FTP is often secured with SSL/TLS (FTPS)
</snip>
The key part being: "and encrypts the content"

I believe it is possible to secure just the authentication and not the
content.

For example, Go Anywhere's Managed File Transfer product supports:
- HTTPS/AS2
- FTP
- FTPS
- SFTP
When configuring FTP (not ftps) there is an option on the Listener part
called "Force Encrypted Authentication". That only encrypts the
authentication and not the entire session. I'm pretty sure if it
substituted the entire thing for FTPS the options would not be blank, yes
and no but instead would say something to the effect of "Start the FTPS
service instead of FTP!"

Either way, rudimentary testing is showing me that this would be
disruptive to our existing ftp connections. I will leave it up to
management to decide whether or not to pursue. I'm leaning towards
reevaluating the public ftp site, and just encouraging new people to sftp.

Rob Berendt