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In computing, the SSH File Transfer Protocol ( also Secret File Transfer Protocol, Secure FTP, or SFTP ) is a network protocol that provides file access, file transfer, and file management functionalities over any reliable data stream.

It was designed by the Internet Engineering Task Force ( IETF ) as an extension of the Secure Shell protocol ( SSH ) version 2. 0 to provide secure file transfer capability, but is also intended to be usable with other protocols.

The IETF of the Internet Draft states that even though this protocol is described in the context of the SSH-2 protocol, it could be used in a number of different applications, such as secure file transfer over Transport Layer Security ( TLS ) and transfer of management information in VPN applications.