CIFS vs. SMB: What's the Difference? | UpGuard

This document explains the relationship between CIFS and SMB, outlines the evolution of SMB dialects (2.0, 2.1, 3.0, 3.02, 3.1.1), and compares their performance, usability, and security, highlighting CIFS/SMB1’s lack of encryption and historical exploitation (e.g., WannaCry/NotPetya via EternalBlue). It recommends disabling SMB1/CIFS in favor of SMB 3.1.1 for improved security and performance, and briefly notes alternative file-sharing implementations such as NFS, NQ, and Samba.