Because Microsoft Windows doesn't have a secure file transfer protocol server built in, we've put together a simple and easy-to-follow tutorial on how to install an SFTP server on Windows. 

The SFTP server we'll be using for this tutorial is JSCAPE MFT Server, a managed file transfer server that supports SFTP connections and several other file transfer protocols like FTP, FTPS, HTTP/S, WebDAV, AS2 and OFTP, as well as SSL and TLS. JSCAPE also offers a cloud solution called MFTaaS.

Overview

[Last updated: December 2020] Malicious insiders and careless insiders are increasingly posing serious risks to file transfer systems. If nothing is done to mitigate them, these internal threats can cause data loss or, worse, massive penalty-inducing data breaches. In this post, we take a closer look at internal threats, how they put file transfer systems at risk, and what you can do to mitigate them.

Businesses that deal with large files such as high-definition videos, 3D CAD models, and so on, sometimes need to transfer these files to another department or to a trading partner located in another state, country, or continent. In situations like this, it pays to know how to securely transfer large files over the Internet.

Overview

Let's say you want to install an SSH FTP server (SFTP) on a Linux machine devoid of a GUI. However, after installation, you don't want to configure it (add users, create keys, enable public key authentication, choose algorithms, etc.) locally, moreso via the SFTP client. Instead, you want this SFTP server to be configured remotely through a graphical Web user interface. This is how we recommend you do it.

Files you upload to an Amazon S3 trading partner through JSCAPE MFT Server are normally stored in plaintext. If you want to encrypt those files to minimize the risk of a data breach, one way to do that is by using AES-256 Amazon S3 server-side encryption. We'll show you how to use this particular service in this post; and if you want to request a free trial, click here.

Overview: What is the AS2 file transfer protocol?

AS2 (Applicability Statement 2) is a file transfer protocol that enables organizations to conduct fully automated,server-to-server file transfers. You can use it to exchange business documents with one or more parties in a paper-free manner. AS2 can be used for exchanging digitized purchase orders, invoices, healthcare claims and other types of business documents. By exchanging these files through AS2, you can ensure message integrity, confidentiality and reliability.

AS2 is based on the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and incorporates Secure/Multipurpose Internet Email Extensions (S/MIME) for business-grade messaging. AS2’s built-in electronic receipt functionality, known as Message Disposition Notification (MDN), is a function of S/MIME. Since firewalls are normally configured to allow HTTP and HTTPS (HTTP secure) connections, you won’t have to apply any configuration changes to your firewall for AS2 to work.

The AS2 protocol can transfer almost any type of file over the Internet. However, it’s more closely associated with EDI messages. To get a good grasp of AS2, you need to understand what Electronic Data Interchange is first.

In one of our previous posts, we talked about the importance of authenticating an SFTP host before logging into it and how to use the host's RSA key fingerprint to carry out the authentication. The same principle applies when you import a user's client key for public key authentication. If you'd like to walk through it with an expert, request a free trial.

Three common protocols still used in file transfer today are FTP, FTPS, and SFTP. While the acronyms for these protocols are similar, there are some key differences among them, in particular, how data is exchanged, the level of security provided, and firewall considerations. Learning these key differences can help you choose a secure file transfer protocol or troubleshoot common connection issues.

To prevent confidential data from leaking out of your organization or getting stolen, your cyber security efforts have to be aimed at two areas: securing data-at-rest and securing data-in-transit (sometimes referred to as data-in-use). Data-in-transit is often secured by protocols that use an Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and require encryption keys. But what about data-at-rest protection?

In this post, we show you how to configure a client certificate and how to simplify certificate management.