FTP with Dreamweaver or Filezilla?
 

What are the pros and cons between using Dreamweaver FTP and Filezilla?

Filezilla is not secure for saving passwords. If your computer gets hacked, the hacker can access everything and take over not just your computer, but your website or web server. The file "sitemanager.xml" has all of your information in the clear.

I like Filezilla, however. What I do is keep it stored in an encrypted virtual drive file (using Gizo rive), and only open it when needed. That's my solution. That's what most security-minded users do.

The other choice, of course, is to use Filezilla and simply not safe passwords. Write them on paper in your desk. It's an old-school solution that works pretty well in the 21st century. You can hack my computer remotely, but you can't hack paper in my desk drawer! There's no rule that says you must save passwords in an FTP program.

Dreamweaver may be bloated, but as far as I know, at least it encrypts passwords.

So the choice is really up to you. :)

FTP is actually unsafe compared to sFTP (FTP over SSH). But your server has to support it, of course.

Cool, I guess I'll stick with Dreamweaver's FTP for now.

Is sFTP compatible when I use Dreamweaver's FTP?

More importantly, does the server support it? If using standard shared hosting, probably not.

Plus it's more complex to do. So I'd first have to ask, is your site that dire that it needs the ultimate in security?
Are you willing to make it more complicated for yourself to make it more secure?

The only problem with FTP is passwords are submitted "in the clear" -- but it doesn't generally mean you'll be hacked.
You'd have to be targeted by somewhat knowledgeable hacker -- not the usual script kiddie idiots.

I want to warn you -- but at the same time I don't want to make it more complicated for no good reason. :)

It's why I ask ... are you sure you need it? If not, FTP with Dreamweaver is fine.

Dreamweaver has SFTP support built in, there should be a check box to use it. If the shared host doesn't support it, they aren't all too concerned about security.

All good points guys.

Thanks, I appreciate the insight.