You are connected to the TTUnet wired, wireless, or VPN network and are unable to connect to FTP or Telnet services, or you are outside the TTUnet network and are unable to access FTP or Telnet services hosted on TTUnet.

Beginning Monday, August 22, 2011, at 8:00 AM, non-secure FTP and Telnet were blocked by university firewalls (incoming only) and across TTUnet.

Standard FTP and Telnet are outdated and inherently non-secure protocols that expose university computing resources and data to unnecessary security risks. In response to Internet threats, and to a security review of TTU networks by an independent third party consultant, the TTU IT Division proactively moved forward in eliminating these protocols. The TTU IT Division Enterprise IT Security team worked with the University Data Center and departmental server administrators beginning in the fall of 2009 to transition FTP and Telnet servers to secure protocols. Additionally, the IT Division worked with several areas that requested help or additional consideration in preparation for the block.

The use of non-secure FTP and Telnet was prohibited on TTUnet by TTU IT Security Policies for several years before the block was put into place, but complacency in the computer industry necessarily slowed the adoption of alternate secure options at TTU.

There is no known resolution at this time.

More secure options such as SSH, SFTP, and HTTPS are widely available and are used as replacements for FTP and Telnet. Please work with your department/data center administrator to find alternate methods of accomplishing your mission.

If you need assistance from the TTU IT Division, please contact IT Help Central. IT Help Central can provide assistance or assign an issue to the appropriate team to assist you.

OUTCOME

Your technology needs may be served securely by using alternate protocols and services.