You should do that anyway, then - FTP transmits your password in the clear, so anyone who has root (or can otherwise put a NIC in promiscious mode) on any box on your LAN can sniff it. Worse, if it's a bigger network, it's not unlikely that someone can sneak into a room somewhere and plug his own laptop into your ethernet. Or such. FTP has served us well but should really be left to rest in peace - the innocent days of networking are long over.

Makeshifts last the longest.