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Login Failures

Logins to Files.com can fail for nearly a dozen distinct reasons, spanning Web, FTP, SFTP, and other protocols. Wherever possible, Files.com reports a detailed error message that explains the reason for the failure.

Potential causes of login failures on Files.com:

Locked Accounts

With Use default Files.com protection selected under Login Attempt Protection, Files.com rate-limits repeated failed sign-in attempts and blocks the IP addresses they come from. Repeated failures do not lock the user account under this default policy.

Account lockout applies only when your site enables the custom policy. A user who reaches the configured number of failed sign-ins within the configured time window is locked out for the configured lock period. During lockout, sign-in fails even with the correct password. The lockout ends when the lock period expires or an administrator unlocks the account.

A Site Administrator can unlock any user on the site. A Workspace Administrator can unlock users within their Workspace.

When an account is locked, its Status column reflects the locked state and an Unlock option appears under the Actions column.

To get notified when a user is locked out, use Event Channels and subscribe to User Lockout events. Admin email preferences also cover user lockouts under the User Security Events preference.

SFTP and 3rd Party Apps

SFTP clients can display a generic authentication error or an invalid username/password message even when the cause is a key, account setting, or connection restriction.

Inspect the failed session request in the API Logs, matching the time, interface, user, and requesting IP address. The Error Type, Error Message, and Status columns provide the available failure details. Login failures do not appear in History Logs or User Activity views. SFTP troubleshooting explains the credential and account checks and what to check when no matching request appears.

Region Based Login Failures

A "Region Mismatch" error can occur when a user is attempting to connect to your site through one of our edge servers in a region disallowed by your site settings.

The API logs of your site will contain the error message Your account must login using a different server, https://yoursite.files.com. for each user that attempted to connect to your site via an incorrect region.

FTP(S) based connections may see these messages:

Response: 530 Lockout Region Mismatch: Your account must login using a different server, https://claudiodemo.files.com.

Error: Critical error: Could not connect to server

SFTP based connections may see this error:

Error: Authentication failed. Error: Critical error: Could not connect to server

WebDAV based connections may see this error:

Could not connect: Connection timed out

The Global acceleration features setting of your site specifies the regions that users are allowed to connect to. The "Use servers closest to my users" option allows connections to all regions, while the "Use <region name> servers only" option only allows connections to that region. Customers who have a HIPAA BAA signed with Files.com do not have the "Use servers closest to my users" option available.

Changing the Global acceleration features setting of your site to "Use servers closest to my users" avoids this error.

How to Solve Region Based Login Failures

Users and systems must always connect using your site custom subdomain (e.g. yoursubdomain.files.com), or your site custom domain (e.g. files.yourcompany.com), so that connections are sent to the correct region. Never use IP addresses or the app.files.com hostname to connect with Files.com.

If your site has implemented a Custom Domain, ensure that the CNAME DNS record for your custom domain points to your custom subdomain (e.g. yoursubdomain.files.com) and not to app.files.com, an IP address, or some other hostname.

Dealing with Failed Logins and Improving Site Security

Customers with dedicated IP addresses or custom domain setups often see numerous Failed Login: Username not found messages whenever a failed login attempt occurs. A high volume of failed login attempts is common on any server accessible via the public internet. Automated connections often try common usernames such as 'root' without having credentials for an account on your site.

Files.com includes these failed login messages in the logs to provide detailed debugging information, since some attempts may represent legitimate logins from your users or counterparties. Files.com limits repeated unsuccessful attempts and blocks addresses generating excessive traffic. Its internal protection logs are not included in customer logs. These failed login messages are not necessarily a cause for concern, and no action is typically required on your part.

These failed login attempts are not a reason to restrict where your users connect from. Files.com already rate-limits and blocks the offending IP addresses, and neither IP Whitelisting nor Access Control by Country is recommended for this purpose. Both features can block legitimate users whose addresses or locations change, while unwanted connections can originate from many different addresses.

To reduce the risk that these attempts represent, strengthen authentication instead. Set strong password requirements through the Password Restrictions setting and require Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), which requires a second factor even when the password is correct.