IIS has an option for FTP with required SSL (FTPS) otherwise your credentials, including password, are sent in plain text over the network or to server. Can visual studio deploy via FTP with security enabled (SSL)? Every time I try I keep getting cannot connect but if I disable SSL it works.
In order to use ftp w/ssl you need to make the server name and/or the site location ftps://whateverserveraddressis.com