Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP)

Term: Secure File Transfer Protocol

Definition:
The Secure File Transfer Protocol (or SFTP) is a network protocol that provides file access, file transfer, and file management functionality over any reliable data stream.

It was designed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) as an extension of the Secure Shell protocol (SSH) version 2.0 to provide secure file transfer capability, but is also intended to be usable with other protocols as well. The IETF of the Internet Draft states that even though this protocol is described in the context of the SSH-2 protocol, this protocol is general and independent of the rest of the SSH2 protocol suite. It could be used in a number of different applications, such as secure file transfer over Transport Layer Security (TLS) and transfer of management information in VPN applications.

This protocol assumes that it is run over a secure channel, such as SSH, that the server has already authenticated the client, and that the identity of the client user is available to the protocol.

Related terms: Secure File Transfer Protocol, SFTP, Transport Layer Security, TLS, VPN