Need to share external drive with friends: ftp vs vpn

[rick155]

Firmware Version:3.0.0.4.374_720
Asus RT N66U

As indicated in the title I have an external hd where I keep files I would like to share with friends

I also want to allow them to be able upload files and would like to manually set read/write permissions on separate folders depending on the account

FTP works but I am thinking of using VPN and mapping drives since I know it's not very safe to use FTP across internet

what are the advantages/disadvantages of setting VPN ?

I am mostly concerned about security: my admin login is non name/vocabulary word and password is non vocabulary based/alfanumeric/18 characters long but with FTP open one could steal password or start a brute force attack in order to guess it, am I wrong ?

would AiCloud be better in this context ? Does it allow to create different users/set read/write privilege ?

please feel free to add your advices if any

Thanks

 

[redpants]

Use the built-in ftp it works great. Dont worry about security, unless you're a "high value target" hackers wont bother hacking your ftp lol

 

[sinshiva]

bots dont care who you are