Editing File Transfer Protocol (section)

==Login==
[[File:1st-ftp-southpole-1994.jpg|thumb|A computer at [[Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station]] logging into an FTP server and transferring a file, in 1994]]
FTP login uses normal username and password scheme for granting access.<ref name="tcpip" /> The username is sent to the server using the USER command, and the password is sent using the PASS command.<ref name="tcpip" /> This sequence is unencrypted "on the wire", so may be vulnerable to a network [[sniffing attack]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Prince|first1=Brian|title=Should Organizations Retire FTP for Security?|url=https://www.securityweek.com/should-organizations-retire-ftp-security/|website=Security Week|date=24 January 2012 |access-date=14 September 2017}}</ref> If the information provided by the client is accepted by the server, the server will send a greeting to the client and the session will commence.<ref name="tcpip" /> If the server supports it, users may log in without providing login credentials, but the same server may authorize only limited access for such sessions.<ref name="tcpip" />

===Anonymous FTP===
A host that provides an FTP service may provide [[Anonymity|anonymous]] FTP access.<ref name="tcpip" /> Users typically log into the service with an 'anonymous' (lower-case and case-sensitive in some FTP servers) account when prompted for user name. Although users are commonly asked to send their [[email]] address instead of a password,<ref name="net+">{{cite book |last=Dean |first=Tamara |title=Network+ Guide to Networks |publisher=Delmar |year=2010 |pages=168–171}}</ref> no verification is actually performed on the supplied data.<ref name="rfc16">{{IETF RFC|1635}} (Informational) How to Use Anonymous FTP. P. & Emtage, A. & Marine, A. (May 1994).</ref> Many FTP hosts whose purpose is to provide software updates will allow anonymous logins.<ref name="net+" />