Ftp Servers and Security – Three Methods That Secure Ftp Servers Use

August 6, 2010 by admin  
Filed under Unix Server

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) has been the standard for file transfer since the early days of the internet. The most remarkable feature about FTP was that it was independent of the operating system. Files could be seamlessly transferred between Unix, Windows and any other operating system. The other neat feature about FTP was that a simple authentication mechanism consisting of a login name and a password could be used to restrict access to files. However, the actual data itself was transferred in plain text and it was easy to monitor and listen in on an FTP connection.

The internet itself had very negligible security built into it. Consisting of many smaller independent networks that stretched across the globe, the path that a packet of information took to get from point A to point B was unpredictable. With the widespread adoption of the internet, it became essential to be able to send many types of sensitive data with some amount of security. Netscape Communications solved the security problem on the internet by creating the Secure Sockets Layer Protocol (SSL) which used public key cryptography to encrypt data transmitted over the internet. This is still the preferred security mechanism and is implemented by all web browsers.

FTPS Encrypted File Transfer
Modifications to the FTP protocol were released to incorporate the use of SSL for encrypting file transfers over the internet. The modified mechanism is referred to as FTPS. In order to maintain backwards compatibility with FTP, an FTPS connection could either be explicit, where the connection between the client connection and the server starts out as regular FTP and then negotiates a secure connection, or implicit where the connection starts out being encrypted.

HTTPS Encrypted File Transfer
Since a web browser is already capable of encrypting data using SSL, simple downloads and uploads can be performed directly from a web browser using the HTTPS protocol. This means that special FTP Client software is not needed.

SFTP Encrypted File Transfer
The Secure Shell protocol also known as SSH was developed by Tatu Ylonen to enable secure access to remote shells using public key cryptography and replace Telnet and other insecure shells. This protocol has since evolved to also support a file transfer mechanism known as SFTP. The main advantage of this mechanism is that it did not require the opening of a second data channel connection for transferring files.

All of these three methods of secure file transfer are based on public key cryptography and all of them are equally capable of securing the transfer of sensitive files across the internet. The only drawback of these methods is that there is a data increase associated with encrypting files. There is also a performance overhead associated with encrypting the files at the source and decrypting them at the destination. Because of this, system administrators sometimes use regular FTP for file transfers within a secured internal network. However, for transferring files over the internet, this is a small price to pay in exchange for the peace of mind that sensitive files reach their destination without being intercepted or tampered with.

What Are The Iis Authentication Methods In Windows Server 2003

July 31, 2010 by admin  
Filed under Windows Server

The default authentication methods are Anonymous access and Integrated Windows Authentication.

1)      Anonymous Access:

When this authentication is enabled, no credentials are required to access the site. No user name or password prompt will appear to the user opening the web site. This authentication method takes priority of other authentication methods, means if Anonymous authentication is enabled, then IIS will try to authenticate users by using anonymous authentication first, even if we have turned on other authentication methods.

 

2)      Integrated Windows Authentication

This method requires Microsoft Internet Explorer 2.0 or later. This method is useful only in the same domain where web users and web servers are in the same domain. This method was previously named NTLM authentication method and works with Kerberos authentication which is most secure for authenticating domain users.

 http://www.techpeoples.net

Users are not prompted for the user name and password; instead server negotiates the security packages installed on client computers.

 

3)      Digest Authentication

This authentication method requires clients having Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or later. User’s credentials are sent in hash value format by encrypting them with MD5 algorithm. Users are prompted for user name and password which provides a medium level security.

 

4)      Basic Authentication

It provides a low level of security because user’s credentials are sent in plain text/ clear text information with no privacy. It is recommended to use SSL with this authentication to encrypt all the information.

 

5)      Microsoft .NET Passport Authentication

This authentication requires users having single sign-in name and password to securely access all .NET passport enabled services and sites. These sites rely on central .NET Passport Server to authenticate users, instead of using their own authentication systems.

 

For more details, click here.

Buying and Selling Expired Domain Traffic – Tips and Methods to Make Money

January 8, 2010 by admin  
Filed under Domain Name

Expired traffic plays an important role in expired domain business. It is a critical element that can create immense value to your domains. All famous domains invariably had tons of incoming traffic attached to it. People are very eager to buy it if it has traffic and links attached to it. Buying and selling domain traffic is a profitable idea that can result in an ongoing online income to your business. Before you wish to sell it to other people, you may need to acquire domain traffic on a consistent basis. There are actually two different modes of acquiring it to your domain. One method is to purchase the traffic from a reseller by paying a price while the other is to accumulate it by redirecting the traffic to your domain. Purchasing and using expired traffic involves lots of effort, investing time and money.

This method is also a mode of flipping your domains by adding commercial value to the web pages. While flipping your domain, you may need to collect organic type of traffic that is real and well recognized by major search engines. Once you purchase them, you will need to create a redirection mechanism on them so that anyone who makes a visit to your defunct sites will be redirected to your main site.

Selling expired traffic through your expired domains require lot of patience and effort as building quality links will always take lot of time. Domain flipping to add traffic is a value based activity that will eventually end up in selling an expired domain for a very high price. Some of the well-known methods that can bring in lots of traffic are:

a) Affiliate a program that not only provides you an ongoing type of income, but also brings a considerable amount of traffic.

b) Flipped domains with a catchy web site and keyword enriched content will provide you an opportunity to sell them at premium prices. Such domains are very good candidates for PPC campaigns and Google AdSense programs. When you use these innovative methods to promote your expired domains, you are adding quality traffic and inbound links.

c) Placing individual web pages based on defunct and non-functional domains over the internet and insert outgoing links to your main websites. This simple action may result in redirecting traffic to your other web sites. In the meantime, all defunct domains will add invisible value to themselves resulting in increased domain gains.

In essence, expired domain traffic helps you in two distinctive ways:

a) Inflating the inherent value of the domain. Traffic enriched domains can yield you better profits as well.

b)You can also act as an domain traffic reseller by selling traffic to other people. However, collecting such traffic is a dicey affair and a difficult task.

In the end, you may need to search for an effective domain flipping system to add commercial value to your domains. Traffic enriched expired web domains can help you set up a strong and highly profitable domain trading business.

John Khu is an author and also a seasoned professional with vast experience in expired domain name business. He is the owner of the path breaking web sites called http://www.expireddomaingains.com which provides complete and up-to-date information on expired domains and their eternal secrets.