It’s time for another MFT Security tip. Today, let’s talk about long passwords and why you would want to require your users to use them. To begin, let’s have a thought experiment. Let’s say, the alphabet only consists of two letters - A and B. Of course, we know there are 26 letters all in all, but for the purpose of this discussion, let’s just say there are only two.

Overview

In this post, we'll discuss the algorithms in a typical SFTP server and explain their basic functions. We'll cover algorithms for key exchanges, ciphers, MACs, and compressions. After that, we'll dive into the JSCAPE MFT Server Manager Web GUI and show you where you can configure those SFTP algorithms.

Having a basic understanding of these algorithms and knowing where to configure them will enable you to strengthen your SFTP server's security or troubleshoot certain client connection issues.

Note: SFTP runs on SSH, and the algorithms you'll be setting are actually SSH algorithms.

Last week, we published the blog post 'The Ultimate Guide To Hardening Your Secure File Transfer Server', where we shared several tips on how you could take advantage of the large selection of file transfer security features on JSCAPE MFT Server.

A lot of the companies who come to us for their managed file transfer (MFT) needs aren't first time MFT customers. Many of them have already acquired a solution from another vendor but then realized some of their newer requirements were no longer being met.

While inherently secure file transfer servers like JSCAPE MFT Server are packed with lots of security features, many of those features need to be activated first. In addition, some functions need to be configured and, in some cases, disabled, to ensure optimal protection. Unless you implement those changes, you won't be able to realize the full (security) potential of your secure file transfer server.

JSCAPE MFT Server users can easily look up a description of each trigger event type by simply clicking the question mark icon after selecting an event type at the start of a trigger creation process. However, if you're still starting out and just want a quick overview of every single event type available, that process can be very time consuming. You might want to check out the list below instead.

Overview

This post is for those of you who want to dive right into the steps of setting up a SFTP server. I'm sure some of you have been resourceful enough to go through the documentation and sift through all the relevant pages in there. But for those who just want one place for it all, this is the article for you.

For this tutorial, I'll be using JSCAPE MFT Server, our managed FTP server that supports SSH FTP as well as a number of other secure file transfer protocols. Since this managed file transfer server is built from Java, it can run on different platforms, including Microsoft Windows (32 and 64 bit), Linux/UNIX, Solaris, AIX, IBM z/OS and Mac OS, with support for SSL and TSL.

If you want to follow this tutorial, you may download a free evaluation edition of JSCAPE MFT Server by clicking here. 

One of the challenges of setting up an MFT Server active-active high availability cluster is in preventing duplicate trigger executions, especially for triggers that use the Current Time event or Directory Monitor-based events. Most of the time, you only want one node in the cluster to execute a particular trigger.

This is a continuation of Part 1. To preserve confidentiality in secure file transfers, public keys are given to end users while the private key is kept inside the managed file transfer server. Get a look into how it works with the JSCAPE platform by requesting your free trial.

Overview

[Last updated on Feb 2019] Secure file transfers typically employ public key cryptography. This cryptographic system involves the use of two different keys: a public key and a private key. In JSCAPE MFT Server, such keys can be easily generated, imported, and exported in the Key Manager. But some first-time users find it hard to even start using the Key Manager. One reason for that is because they fail to see the difference between server keys and client keys.