Berkeley Lab Computer Protection Program: Services

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TOOLS & SERVICES

Secure File Transfer & Copy Software

Using FTP to transfer files exposes your username, password, and data to the Internet. It is well known that hackers monitor the Internet, collect usernames and passwords, and use this information to illegally break into computers. To protect your accounts from break-ins, you should use a method of file transfer that encrypts your transmissions.

This File Transfer/Copy information page offers various choices for secure file copying/transferring. The first three listings are freeware and relatively easy to install/use. The remaining are offered alphabetically by product and vary as to cost and ease of use.

Product	Platform	Cost	Compatibility	Comments
WinSCP	Windows 95/98/2000/NT/XP	Freeware, & now offered as part of the standard load on new Lab PCs.	SSH1/2	Free SCP secure copy client using SSH (Secure Shell). Use at your own risk. Note: Failure to launch WinSCP has sometimes been noted if SSH-agent is active in UNIX user .login file. This can be circumvented by changing the UNIX .login to not ask for an RSA passphrase.
Timbuktu Enterprise	Windows (Version 7.0 B896) Mac (Pro Enterprise Version 7.01; Enterprse Version 6.03)	Free to Lab Employees	VPNs, PAP, CHAP, Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP), SecureID™, etc.	Remote Control and File Transfer software. Note -- Windows version has not been tested by CIS and is unsupported. Contact the vendor if you have problems. MPSG will provide limited support on a time and material basis.
PSCP	Win32 platforms	Freeware	SSH2	Free SCP for Win32 systems. Designed to work with PuTTY, a free Telnet/SSH client.
NiftyTelnet (niftytelnet- 1.1-ssh-r3)	Macintosh	Freeware	SSH1/2	Easy-to-use alternative to SSH that has an implementation of scp (secure copy)
scp	Unix	Freeware	SSH1/2	An add-on to the Unix operating system, command-line protocol for transferring files to or from a remote host. Unlike rcp, scp will ask for passwords or passphrases if they are needed for authentification.
gftp	Debian GNU/Linux 2.2, Solaris/SunOS (Sparc, x86); SGI IRIX; FreeBSD; Digital Unix; HP-UX 11	Freeware	SSH1/2	Written in C, uses GTK+ 1.2 for the GUI. Supports FTP, HTTP, and SSH protocols. Written on a Debian GNU/Linux 2.2 machine.
SafeTP	Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000 and Unix	Freeware	SSH2	Users can use FTP to connect to their accounts on UNIX or NT/2000 FTP servers. SafeTP operates by installing a transparent proxy in the Windows networking stack that detects outgoing FTP connections from any Windows FTP client, and silently secures them.
VCP	Windows 95/98/ME/ 2000/NT 4.0/XP	Payware	SSH2	A SecureCRT utility. Does file transfer with SSH-based strong encryption. SecureCRT is an alternative SSH client to F-Secure SSH.
SecureFX	Windows XP	Payware	SSH2	SSH2-based file transfer with a full GUI interface.
SFTP	Windows, Macintosh, Unix,	Payware	SSH2	Part of SSH v. 2.x and 3.x, F-Secure.
WS_FTP Pro 8.0	Windows	Payware	SSH1/2	Includes SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) security to provide encryption of data for FTP.