Safety of SMB versus SFTP

Question

I have a server with OpenSSH enabled. I use it to make distant backups. I mainly use rsync over SSH and SFTP. I understood that these protocols are quite safe.

I am interested in enabling Samba share on the server so that I can access content easily with some IOS apps that I have.

My question is as follows: - Is Samba a secure protocol? - Is the security level similar to SSH? - Would you guys rather stick with SSH/SFTP instead of opening up SMB?

Solution 1

Samba is not a secure protocol. The data isn't encrypted during transport.

Which protocol I would choose would depend on the environment. If I'm on an internal network, Samba is fine. If I'm accessing the data remotely, either SSH/SCP or some VPN solution would be preferable from a security standpoint.

Solution 2

SAMBA is not a protocol rather than implementation to the SMB protocol.

To say that SMB is not secure is not the right sentence to say because SMB protocol has 3 dialects 1, 2 and 3, the SMBv3 version is a more secure SMB transaction and it support encrypted (CCM and GCM algorithm) the user just need to config the Share folder to be an encrypted one.

Comments

[Vincent]

Thanks, that was exactly the information I was looking for. Indeed, I want to access my data outside my home network. I think I'll stick with SFTP/SSH.

[derobert]

news.samba.org/announcements/3.2_press_release ... Now, no idea if your IOS apps support encryption or not.

[AnneTheAgile]

Link above is dead. To configure samba with SSL: wiki.samba.org/index.php/…