Is Filezilla unsafe

[EggyRepublic]

Filezilla was detected as malware (specifically trojans) by multiple virus scanners, including Kaspersky and Microsoft defender. Multiple warnings are also online about it being malware. I had been using it since January on desktop (version 3.40.0) and for years on my laptop. What is up with this? What kind of activities is Filezilla doing on my PC?

[goto10]

it could very well be a false positive

 

if you dont trust the tool anymore, remove it and use another like similar, all depends on the features you want and the tools available to download

 

these days most installers will offer extra tools like extra web browser bars, those often are basically spyware or other kind of garbage, trust completely on tools is, i dont trust on any of these tools really

 

after installing those tools is wise to run a antimalware tool like adwcleaner to see if something passed under the nose of the antivirus, as often happens

[Revenge282]

There is a fair bit of drama with the developer of Filezilla.  Mostly with how he decides and prioritizes features and bug fixes, and it can get pretty heated between long-time users and the developer.  Compound that with the installer adware issues and some security exploits that have/had been allowed to sit around longer than needed (sometimes for years), and it isn't software I can use, or even recommend anymore.

 

If you are looking for an effective FTP client, I would wholeheartedly recommend you check out WinSCP.  It is capable of everything Filezilla is, as well as being actively updated with a healthy user-developer relationship.

[EggyRepublic]

10 minutes ago, Revenge282 said:

There is a fair bit of drama with the developer of Filezilla.  Mostly with how he decides and prioritizes features and bug fixes, and it can get pretty heated between long-time users and the developer.  Compound that with the installer adware issues and some security exploits that have/had been allowed to sit around longer than needed (sometimes for years), and it isn't software I can use, or even recommend anymore.

 

If you are looking for an effective FTP client, I would wholeheartedly recommend you check out WinSCP.  It is capable of everything Filezilla is, as well as being actively updated with a healthy user-developer relationship.

Are the adwares that Filezilla asks to install safe? I never agreed to install them, but some people have reported that Filezilla installed them anyways.

[Revenge282]

2 minutes ago, EggyRepublic said:

Are the adwares that Filezilla asks to install safe? I never agreed to install them, but some people have reported that Filezilla installed them anyways.

To be honest, if you have to spend this much time and effort into worrying about it, it's probably not worth worrying over.  Just use an alternative.

 

However, I haven't heard of anything malicious happening as a direct result of the installer.  But, that risk is something that makes WinSCP all the more compelling to me.  The installer still shows 3rd party content, and to me, that isn't necessary.

[DEWWED21]

As many have already said, if you are spending time worrying about the safety of Filezilla, it likely isn't worth it. It has been plagued with issues over the years, and I just personally can't trust it anymore. The "free" part is nice, but now, I prefer to pay for a client that I know is updated regularly and has a tech team available to help me when needed. WebDrive is what I use, and I have no complaints.