[gscarich]

I want to set up a drop folder on my Mac for people to send me photos. I set up a separate user with a password. In my testing, I've found that my folder structure is available including all applications, user names, etc. I have a fixed IP and give out the IP address.

Can I set up a way to do this (provide a drop folder) without revealing all this information?

Thanks for any information.

[pat++]

do not give the password to other people, and have them connect as guest.
They will only see what's in Public, which is usually the place where you have a drop box folder. (and no need to create a special user for this. the users can connect to your public folder as guest).

[gscarich]

Originally posted by pat++:
do not give the password to other people, and have them connect as guest.
They will only see what's in Public, which is usually the place where you have a drop box folder. (and no need to create a special user for this. the users can connect to your public folder as guest).

Thank you. That's just too obvious! Why do we make things harder than they need to be? I suspect that lurking back somewhere I had had troubles with My drop box. It doesn't help that I'm using a router. Again thanks.

[Person Man]

Not to mention that you shouldn't be using plain old FTP anyway, ESPECIALLY with guest access... you're opening yourself up to being hacked.

You should probably use Secure FTP (SFTP) instead. Or another alternative that someone else might mention.

[gscarich]

Originally posted by Person Man:
Not to mention that you shouldn't be using plain old FTP anyway, ESPECIALLY with guest access... you're opening yourself up to being hacked.

You should probably use Secure FTP (SFTP) instead. Or another alternative that someone else might mention.

Does SFTP protect my Mac or my passwords being sent over the internet?

[pat++]

Originally posted by Person Man:
Not to mention that you shouldn't be using plain old FTP anyway, ESPECIALLY with guest access... you're opening yourself up to being hacked.

I don't see why using plain old ftp exposes you to being hacked, PARTICULARLY for guest access. You don't need to enter any password, so I don't see the point of using sftp...

The only drawback of using guest access is that *anyone* can actually put something in your dropbox. so just make sure you do not launch any application you don't know in your dropbox.

[pat++]

Originally posted by gscarich:
Does SFTP protect my Mac or my passwords being sent over the internet?

When using sftp, passwords are not sent as clear text over the network. actually the whole file transfer is encrypted.

[gscarich]

Originally posted by pat++:
When using sftp, passwords are not sent as clear text over the network. actually the whole file transfer is encrypted.

But as far as what someone can see or do to the server (my computer in this case), SFTP is the same as FTP?

[pat++]

Originally posted by gscarich:
But as far as what someone can see or do to the server (my computer in this case), SFTP is the same as FTP?

Yes.

[Chris Grande]

In this regard file sharing in Mac OS X is still pretty much a joke compared to Windows and Mac OS 9!

[gscarich]

Originally posted by pat++:
Yes.

Thanks. That was what I thought, but there were suggestions that it was otherwise. I found a write up somewhere on the web that pointed up the advantages. Of course passwords being encypted, but having web pages that one is uploaded encryted means people can't intercept them and post them with modifications on your site. A friend who runs a large store on the web was recently cracked and although I'm far from paranoid, using SFTP seems like a good idea without adding much if any overhead. i guess if one is serving (I'm not usually) ftp, then it may confuse your users.