# IE and secure ftp?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ie-and-secure-ftp/163161>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 21, 2003, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ie-and-secure-ftp/163161 "2003-03-21T17:36:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ie-and-secure-ftp/163161/1 "2003-03-21T17:36:58Z")

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I use IE as an ftp client and it works just fine. But I tried to use it to update my AT&T WorldNet web site, and got a message back from the ATT server saying that if I use ftp from outside their user firewall (i.e., not dialed into the service) I have to use an ftp client that supports SSL. The help info for IE makes absolutely no mention of SSL with regard to ftp, in fact, it says very little about ftp at all.

How can IE not provide SSL for ftp when it supports it for http? Is there some parameter I can tweak to get this to work? Or do I just have to get another ftp client?

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ie-and-secure-ftp/163161/2 "2003-03-21T19:08:46Z")

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Because FTP was generally not used in a secure setting. (As a matter of fact, this is the first I’ve heard FTP can use SSL – more likely it’d be some sort of HTTP Put instead.)

MSIE’s FTP is primarily used to download software, anyway. It is not intended to be a regular FTP client – just enough for the novice user to be able to download. And Microsoft uses http put as the default in FrontPage, since FTP is not secure at all.

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**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ie-and-secure-ftp/163161/3 "2003-03-21T20:45:06Z")

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The exact text of the error message is:

> [@](#):
>
> This is the “Access from Anywhere” PWP FTP server, and is available from the general internet. However, you MUST use an SSL enabled FTP client. A list of such clients can be found at:
> 
> [http://home.att.net/ftp\_anywhere.html](http://home.att.net/ftp_anywhere.html)

On other ftp sites I can use IE to download, upload, delete files, rename. . . .