Most Secure Way to Transfer Files

The safest, most secure way to transfer files over the internet is FTP. The acronym FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. And it's easy to use

FTP is used to upload or download files from a website server. It is most commonly used by website designers and developers to upload or download the files that comprise a website.

You can use a browser such as Internet Explorer or Firefox to transfer files via FTP, but performance is slow and unreliable. It's best to use a dedicated FTP program (usually called an FTP client). Two such programs are FileZilla (free) and CuteFTP (low cost, but easier to use).

Dedicated FTP programs have drag-and-drop functionality. In other words, you can click on and drag a file from one location and drop it to another. FTP programs typically divide the screen into two windows. The window on the left is all the files and folders on your computer. The window on the right is all the files and folders on the web server.

FTP access is either anonymous or password-protected. Anonymous access is, obviously, not that secure. FTP access that requires a username and password is secure. You can store your FTP username and password in your FTP client program, which will handle the process of connecting to the website server computer for you.

For a basic tutorial on FTP, visit http://www.ftpplanet.com/ftpresources/basics.htm.