Security Considerations

Security Considerations

By default, Cerberus FTP Server’s Web Services access is turned off. Before allowing Web Services access to Cerberus FTP Server, you should be well aware of the security implication that this entails. While it is the user’s responsibility to be knowledgeable of Web Services and the risks associated with using them, here are some reminders:

• Make sure the port you are running the Web service on is properly locked down. If you are only using Web Services to communicate between programs on the same machine, the port Cerberus is running the Web Services on shouldn’t be accessible from outside of the local machine.
• When using Web Services, remember that anyone with access to the port that the Web Services is running on can send service requests to Cerberus FTP Server. This can represent a serious security risk. Make sure you set a strong Remote access password.
• HTTP, the backbone of Cerberus FTP Server’s Web Services, transmits information as unencrypted text. Anything you send over HTTP has the potential to be intercepted and read. Cerberus also has the option of using SSL/TLS support for Web Services over HTTPS. Using HTTPS instead of HTTP significantly increases the security of any data transmitted.

Cerberus FTP Server uses the gSOAP toolkit to implement Web Services. You can find out more about gSOAP on the gSOAP home page.