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Is hosting FTP on Windows Server 2008 R2 Domain Controller secure?

I would like to setup FTP on my Windows Server 2008 R2 domain controller and I would like the FTP to be available on the internet so therefore the DC will be out on the internet.

Is it secure for my domain controller to be available on the internet?

JRaasumaa

FTP is not going to be considered secure. SFTP (through SSH) is secure, however server 2008 R2 doesn't do this out of the box and you will need a 3rd party tool to do it.

Filezilla or Smartftp both provide good solutions but there are honestly dozens that do this.

http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/install-SSH-Server-Windows-Server-2008.html

This has a great tutorial about them and is what I used to start mine.

GreyHippo

ASKER

In the past I was testing out remote access and I had a domain controller on the internet, it was in the DMZ. While I was testing over a period of a few days I noticed a bunch of unexpected failed login events coming from the internet which lead me to believe that someone was trying to hack into my server.

Ignoring FTP, will installing SSH on my server help prevent future hacking if the server is available in the internet?

If the files I will be making available thru FTP do not contain sensitive data do I still need to worry about FTP being secure?

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JRaasumaa

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GreyHippo

ASKER

Thanks for the info.

AlexPace

You could put a scriptable FTP, FTPS or SFTP server in the DMZ with an upload event script that automatically moves files into your network. Here is a sample event script that moves a file... you could use this as a starting point: http://kb.robo-ftp.com/script_library/show/46