Listrak's FTP service supports two different protocols: FTP and SFTP. FTP is a basic file transfer protocol which is easy to implement, but not secure. Listrak offers FTP mostly for the convenience of its customers, but does suggest the use of the FTPS or SFTP protocol instead for security reasons.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a direct connection between the server and the FTP client you use. This connection offers very little security, but is easy to implement.

⚠️ Listrak does not recommend using an FTP protocol of you are uploading Personally Identifiable Information (PII). PII should only be passed over a secured connection.

SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) allows for more advanced security features by using Secure Shell (SSH), a cryptographic protocol, to pass information. This means a secure end-to-end connection can be created even if passing information over an unsecure network.

SFTP is an accepted secure protocol according to PCI-DSS 3.2.1 for any website requiring PCI Compliance. The current minimum supported TLS version for Listrak's SFTP implementation is TLS 1.1. 

SFTP can use username/password authentication or can be configured to use an RSA (an algorithm for public-key cryptography that is based on the presumed difficulty of factoring large integers) public/private keypair. The port used for communications does not change and is more predictable to configure behind a firewall.

⚠️ SFTP is Listrak's recommended protocol due to the additional security.