FTP is an old protocol that isn’t designed for secure data transfer and is very vulnerable to attacks. For that reason, other, “safe” versions of the protocol are eventually created, along with new protocols. One of them is the SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol or Secret File Transfer Protocol) which is used for file transfer and management instead of the FTP. SFTP is not an enhanced, “secure” version of the FTP, it’s rather a new protocol that has similar functions for the transfer of files.
How Does the SFTP Work?
The SFTP uses SSH to transmit files over a network safely. In contrast to the FTP, this protocol encrypts all the transmitted data, passwords, and commands. The disadvantage of the SFTP is that it’s not supported by all FTP clients, so you need a client that supports both FTP and SFTP. SFTP was created more like an extension of the SSH-2protocol that enables the transfer of files over SSH and other protocols like the TLS. SFTP is also widely supported by most platforms. The SFTPs connection is always secured but requires a secure underlying protocol, usually SSH.
FTPS
Unlike the SFTP protocol, FTPS is an extension to the FTP that enables encrypted FTP sessions upon request by using the AUTH TLS and AUTH SSL commands. This way, you can transfer your files using SSL or TLS connections. Like HTTPS, FTPS also requires a key certificate. SSL and TLS are also widely used over the Internet, but not supported by all FTP servers. You can choose between using an implicit FTPS connection that always encrypts the transferred data or explicit FTPS that allows you to start both encrypted and unencrypted sessions.