A method used to access an Internet computer that does not require you to have an account on the target computer system. Simply log on to the Internet computer with the user name anonymous, and use your e-mail address as your password. This access method was originally provided as a courtesy so that system administrators could see who had logged on to their systems, but now it is often required to gain access to an Internet computer that has FTP service.
You cannot use anonymous FTP with every computer on the Internet, only with those systems set up to offer the service. The system administrator decides which files and directories will be open to public access, and the rest of the system is considered off limits and cannot be accessed by anonymous FTP users. Some sites only allow you to download files; as a security precaution, you are not allowed to upload files.
See also File Transfer Protocol; Telnet.