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January 31, 2008

WS_FTP Home Getting Started

If you need to get started with transfering/sharing bigger files and are graduating from relying on email attachments, be sure to try WS_FTP Home. The product's website (wsftp.com) hosts a Getting Started Guide to walk you through basic FTP.

Also, a 30-Day Free Evaluation version is available for download.

Posted by Erik Small at 02:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page

January 23, 2008

Wi-Fi Security

Continuing on the trend of talking about security measures for the new year, do you use any of the security encryptions on your home Wi-Fi network?

We'd love to hear why you use security encryption on your home Wi-Fi .... or why you don't!

Comments welcomed!

Posted by Erik Small at 01:06 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page

January 22, 2008

WS_FTP named finalist for prestigious SC Magazine award for IT security!

WS_FTP has been named a finalist in the annual SC Magazine Awards program for outstanding achievement in information-technology (IT) security. Its WS_FTP secure file transfer platform was named a finalist in the Excellence Award Best Small to Medium Enterprise Security Solution category.

It's nice to see WS_FTP Server with SSH and the WS_FTP Professional file transfer client be recognized for such a prestigious award. I've been touting the incredible security capabilities of these products for a loooong time now.... and remember, I'm not only a crazy blogger -- I'm also a longtime user of WS_FTP products and I agree 100% that they include security capabilities not found in alternative software options.

Here's a great quote that nicely summarizes WS_FTP's dominance in security functionality:
"As a complete, end-to-end client-server solution, Ipswitch's WS_FTP file transfer platform delivers robust, industry-leading security with features such as 256-bit AES transport encryption, SSL and SSH protocol support and SHA-512 file integrity," said Gary Shottes, president of the Ipswitch file transfer division. "We are pleased to be recognized by SC Magazine for our leadership and ahead-of-the-curve technology."

Posted by Hugh Garber at 06:36 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page

January 17, 2008

Server Administrators: Force Strong Password Policies!!!

My continued focus on strong user passwords is almost over.... I promise!

In recent blog posts I've shared some insights on weak & strong user passwords and gave some tips to help users create their own passwords.

In this blog post I'll give network and server administrators some guidelines for setting strong password policies on their file transfer server.

Here are some of the administrator options in WS_FTP Server with SSH that gives admins complete control over user passwords by allowing them to specify the minimum security standards that a password must meet.

With WS_FTP Server with SSH, administrators can:
* Require passwords to have a minimum number of characters
* Require passwords to have a minimum number of numeric characters
* Require passwords to have a minimum number of symbols/non-alphanumeric characters
* Require users to change their passwords at regular intervals
* Track previously used passwords and prevent users from reusing old passwords

With complex rules governing user passwords, the likelihood of hackers deriving legitimate passwords is significantly reduced and the security of your server and all the data stored on it is significantly increased. Requiring strong passwords is a good first step to ensuring the confidentiality and integrity of secure file transfer.

Posted by Hugh Garber at 07:35 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page

January 15, 2008

New File Transfer Client Released today - WS_FTP Professional 2007.1

Hi Everyone -
Our parent company Ipswitch and their File Transfer division announced a new release of the WS_FTP Professional client today -- Version 2007.1

I pulled a few of the new features from their announcement:

SECURITY

* Keyboard-Interactive Authentication: Client support for dynamic client-server authentication. Users can authenticate and connect to SSH servers that require connecting clients to respond to server defined prompts for authentication, in addition to username.

* Configure Email Notifications for SMTP Server Authentication: Users can easily set-up email notifications to be automatically sent when a file transfer occurs. Email notifications can now be configured for SMTP server authentication.

USABILITY

Storage Utilization Displayed when Connecting to WS_FTP Server: Users connecting to WS_FTP Server with the WS_FTP Professional file transfer client get a real-time view of their server disk space utilization.

Copy Fully-Qualified URL to Clipboard: Right-mouse-click and copy the URL to a remote file and paste into another document or email. The complete URL link includes host, server, folder and filename.

Enhanced Workspaces: Save and instantly reconnect to frequently used local and server connections. Enhanced capability lets you add descriptive comments for each saved workspace.

Enhanced Logging: The SSH Authentication method used to connect to an SSH server is now included in the connection log.

Read more about the release HERE:

Posted by Erik Small at 01:55 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page

January 11, 2008

Weak Passwords to Avoid

I'm almost done with my continued rant about creating strong passwords. It amazes me that so many people make such poor choices when creating their passwords.

A few people emailed me this week for examples of weak passwords. So I went ahead and put together a short list of ten passwords to avoid.

1. "password"
2. "123456"
3. "administrator" (or "admin)
4. "pass1234"
5. "qwerty"
6. "asdf"
7. "letmein"
8. Any password that includes your name or the name of family/friends/pets
9. Any password that includes your address or city/state/zipcode
10. Any password that includes your social security number

And don't forget to check out my blog post from earlier this week that lists some guidelines for creating strong passwords.....

Posted by Hugh Garber at 07:14 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page

January 10, 2008

WS_FTP Professional - 20% off for a Limited Time

Looking for an FTP client? FTPPlanet strongly recommends WS_FTP Professional.

Good news -- you can easily purchase WS_FTP online and get 20% off now for a limited time.

WS_FTP Professional delivers industry-leading security, automation, and customization capabilities, offering the highest level of encryption available for files and a superior range of features that enhance productivity and communication. With more than 40 million users worldwide, the award-winning WS_FTP Professional is the world’s most popular file transfer client. It boasts the fastest transfer speeds and highest level of reliability and security of any file transfer client on the market.

Posted by Erik Small at 09:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page

January 08, 2008

Guidelines for Creating Strong Passwords

I've been on a bit of a blogging rant lately about using "strong passwords". Well, I'm sure at least a few of you are asking "what the heck is a strong password"???

Basically, by "strong password" I mean a password that is strong enough to hold up to password-guessing attacks. Here are a handful of guidelines to follow when creating your passwords:

* Use at least eight characters

* Include a combination of lowercase and capital letters, numbers and special characters

* Avoid passwords based on repetition, dictionary words, letter or number sequences

* Never use your username or personal information like names or dates or street addresses

* Use different passwords on different systems, websites and accounts

Posted by Hugh Garber at 07:28 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page

January 07, 2008

Security Resolutions for the New Year

As we settle into 2008, we continue to think about how secure our personal information is on the web and through the many avenues of electronic communication. On a daily basis, many use credit/debit cards for majority of purchases, access financial records online, store personal data in emails, archive files on laptops .... the list goes on.

Are you making any security resolutions for this New Year? Anything you will be doing differently to protect yourself? Share your resolutions or comments here at FTPPlanet!

Posted by Erik Small at 08:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page

January 04, 2008

Password Security: What Users Know and What They Actually Do

Here is a fabulous study on password security done by Wichita State University that shows that people know the dangers of using weak passwords but routinely dismiss the risk in favor of convenience.

I'd be lying if I said that I was never guilty of the same thing in the past. But not anymore! About six months ago I began using much stronger passwords to protect my computer, online accounts, email, etc.... It's simply a smart safety precaution that everyone should take.

Here are a few eye-opening takeaways from the survey:

* 73% of people know they should change their passwords every three to six months, but over half confessed that they never change their passwords unless they are required to.

* The majority of people know they should use special characters (non-alphanumeric symbols) in their passwords but only 5% actually did.

* Two thirds of respondents knew that their passwords should contain at least seven characters, but only 35.5% reported using passwords with seven or more characters.

* 70% know they shouldn't use names of family members, pets, or other personally significant names and words, over half admitted that they routinely use these types of words in their passwords.

Don't let yourself become a victim of a cyber crime. Protect yourself and your confidential information..... And really, it doesn't take much effort at all.

Posted by Hugh Garber at 07:57 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page

January 02, 2008

Security Tips

My 2008 New Year's resolution is to take some smart (and relatively simple) steps to keep my computer and data safe and secure. TechRepublic's Top 10 security tips is a great place to start, as it covers general PC security as well as some good advice for securing files and data:

* Use strong passwords
* Invest in good firewall/router
* Update your software
* Shut down services you don’t use
* Employ data encryption
* Protect your data with backups
* Encrypt sensitive communications
* Don’t trust foreign networks
* Get an uninterruptible power supply
* Monitor systems for security threats and breaches

I'll share my thoughts on a few of these sensible tips in upcoming blog postings, particularly the ones that deal with secure file transfer and ensuring that sensitive files and data remain safe.

Posted by Hugh Garber at 06:52 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack digg this add to del.icio.us add to My Web Furl this page