[Cyber Security Terms](/glossary) Common Internet File System (CIFS) [Blog](/blog)[Breaches](/breaches)[Resources](/resources)[News](/news) [Cyber Security Terms](/glossary) # Common Internet File System (CIFS) ##### [Catherine Chipeta](/team/catherine-chipeta) updated Sep 11, 2022 ###### Contents ## Common Internet File System (CIFS) [CIFS (Common Internet File System)](https://www.upguard.com/blog/cifs) is a file-sharing protocol which enables local devices to access remote files and print services. The protocol is an unsecured dialect of [SMB (Server Message Block)](https://www.upguard.com/blog/cifs-vs-smb), a communication protocol originally developed by IBM, with later versions developed by Microsoft. ## How CIFS Works The CIFS protocol operates through a client-server model: The CIFS client-server model works as follows:  1\. The client sends a request to the server. 2\. The server completes the request. 3\. The server responds to the client. ## CIFS Functionality [Microsoft has outlined the main features of CIFS](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/openspecs/windows_protocols/ms-cifs/56412e46-786f-4909-a4a1-dfcb98865f91): * Transport independence * Flexible connectivity * Feature negotiation * Resource access * Security contexts * File access * Extended subprotocols * Named pipe interprocess communication * File and record locking, and safe caching: * File, directory, and volume attributes * File and directory change notification  * Batched commands * Distributed File System (DFS) support * Remote Procedure Call (RPC) transport * Message verification * Unicode file name support ## Key takeaways * The CIFS protocol is used for accessing file sharing and print services as if they were located locally. * CIFS is an unsecured implementation of SMB and Microsoft recommends its users disable it. * CIFS is now obsolete and users are advised to upgrade to the latest SMB dialect — 3.1.1. * * ###### Reviewed by No items found. ###### Author ##### [Catherine Chipeta](/team/catherine-chipeta) ###### Reviewed by ##### [Axel Sukianto](/team/axel-sukianto) ###### Join 27,000+ cybersecurity newsletter subscribers ## Read more about Common Internet File System (CIFS) Learn more about Common Internet File System (CIFS) and the latest issues in cybersecurity. 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