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0 pointsdvfjsdhgfv4y ago0 comments

> I also find the incredibly vague and nonspecific "but security!" scaremongering language to be quite hyperbolic

Well, there is nothing vague here: FTP is a cleartext protocol, and we're migrating towards protocols that provide integrity and encryption.

Sometimes I think it's a generational thing. I find it hard to accept this, growing up with testing all protocols with Telnet and so on. But unfortunately the Internet has changed a lot, and especially bad and unscrupulous people learned how to find all possible and sometimes very creative ways to abuse whatever had been created in the past. So I understand that cleartext POP3, IMAP, SMTP and FTP authentication should go away.

Anonymous FTP is a slightly different beast though. Security-wise, it has the same weaknesses as regular HTTP. But nobody is removing HTTP support from web browsers (yet). So I'm a bit sorry to see it removed from FireFox. There are many better things to copy from Chrome.

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apostacy4y ago

This is security hypocrisy.

HTTP is a cleartext protocol. Why does your browser quietly navigate to any HTTP site you throw at it? Anonymous FTP isn't any less secure than HTTP.

Why does your browser scream at you for connecting to an encrypted but unverified site, such as a self signed certificate on a closed network, but have no warnings at all for an unverified and unencrypted HTTP connection?

How do you know the context that I am using a plaintext protocol in? How do you know I'm not connecting over a patch cable to the computer next to me? How do you know I'm not connecting over an SSH tunnel?

The user should easily be able to override these safety measures.

The only argument I have heard this is that the user could be tricked into disabling security mechanisms. But that is true of anything in computing. The user could be tricked into typing in rm -rf.

When there is inconstancy like this, it usually implies there is something else going on that we aren't seeing. I have a feeling that companies like Google and Apple have an agenda to move people away from having too much outside of their influence.

dvfjsdhgfvOP4y ago

> When there is inconstancy like this, it usually implies there is something else going on that we aren't seeing. I have a feeling that companies like Google and Apple have an agenda to move people away from having too much outside of their influence.

I think it's both. For one thing, I think they genuinely do care about security, because any high-profile incident involving their products is a cause of embarrassment for them. At the same time, I have a feeling they would prefer people not inspect the traffic moving in and out of their apps, for example.

da_chicken4y ago

> HTTP is a cleartext protocol. Why does your browser quietly navigate to any HTTP site you throw at it? Anonymous FTP isn't any less secure than HTTP.

This is true, but it ignores the fact that the web has been moving towards depreciation of HTTP in favor of HTTPS.

While FTP is an established standard, FTPS is kind of a nightmare with different and incompatible variants.

antisol4y ago

No, it doesn't.

The parent explicitly mentions that there are no warnings for a cleartext http connection, but warnings for an encrypted connection to a self-signed certificate.

This is security theatre, not actual security.

antisol4y ago

>there is nothing vague here: FTP is a cleartext protocol

Sometimes there's nothing wrong with transferring stuff in cleartext.

Screaming vague and meaningless "for security!" mantras isn't helpful.

GekkePrutser4y ago

You can still test those protocols with OpenSSL stunnel :)

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 comments

apostacy4y ago

This is security hypocrisy.

HTTP is a cleartext protocol. Why does your browser quietly navigate to any HTTP site you throw at it? Anonymous FTP isn't any less secure than HTTP.

The user should easily be able to override these safety measures.

The only argument I have heard this is that the user could be tricked into disabling security mechanisms. But that is true of anything in computing. The user could be tricked into typing in rm -rf.

dvfjsdhgfvOP4y ago

da_chicken4y ago

> HTTP is a cleartext protocol. Why does your browser quietly navigate to any HTTP site you throw at it? Anonymous FTP isn't any less secure than HTTP.

This is true, but it ignores the fact that the web has been moving towards depreciation of HTTP in favor of HTTPS.

While FTP is an established standard, FTPS is kind of a nightmare with different and incompatible variants.

antisol4y ago

No, it doesn't.

The parent explicitly mentions that there are no warnings for a cleartext http connection, but warnings for an encrypted connection to a self-signed certificate.

This is security theatre, not actual security.

antisol4y ago

>there is nothing vague here: FTP is a cleartext protocol

Sometimes there's nothing wrong with transferring stuff in cleartext.

Screaming vague and meaningless "for security!" mantras isn't helpful.

GekkePrutser4y ago

You can still test those protocols with OpenSSL stunnel :)

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse