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I am looking for an FTP client for Mac that can encrypt files so account provider wouldn't read my data.

Is it even possible?

I am not looking for encrypted transfer, I am looking for encrypted files on the server so only with password you would be able to read them.

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You cannot encrypt files while they're being transmitted with FTP alone. FTP was made for transmitting files quickly, so there are no methods to do a one-way encryption on a file that you send. Only full encryption of the FTP transfer is possible, but that would leave you with unencrypted files on the remote server.*

If you want to store encrypted files on the remote server, you should encrypt them before sending, e.g. with OpenSSL or any other encryption method like putting them in a TrueCrypt container.

* The only way to have an encrypted FTP transfer itself is to do it over SSL, which is called FTP-SSL or simply FTPS. However, in order to use it, the remote FTP server needs to support this. All major FTP clients for OS X (including Cyberduck and Transmit) support FTPS.

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  • I don't want encrypted transfer, I need encrypted files on server.
    – Etam
    Aug 21, 2013 at 12:23
  • Then simply encrypt them before sending, e.g. with OpenSSL. See: Simple built-in way to encrypt and decrypt a file on a Mac via command-line? — FTP itself is not made for this and does not have provisions for one-way encryption, so you'll probably not be able to find a client that does this on its own.
    – slhck
    Aug 21, 2013 at 12:25
  • That is what I am looking for. I couldn't find anything that automates encryption.
    – Etam
    Aug 21, 2013 at 12:27
  • The only way I can think of is to create an Automator action or something similar that encrypts one or more files almost automatically, after which you'd transfer them to the FTP server. It depends on what your workflow is and how often you transmit files.
    – slhck
    Aug 21, 2013 at 12:30
  • @Etam - Use the OS X Drive Encryption and Filevault features to encrypt the entire disk.
    – Ramhound
    Aug 21, 2013 at 14:35

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