Pro2col had the pleasure of assisting on the Globalscape stand, on what is traditionally the busiest day. With Chaz and Chris Thacker both providing demos the stand was busy and the message was coming through loud and clear; IT Professionals want a Dropbox Alternative.

A study by security distributor e92plus that I read at the show highlighted that some 76% of IT Professionals in the UK had Dropbox at the top of its list of banned
technologies. This was very much reflected by the conversations we had and the demonstrations of Globalscape solutions provided.

The most popular solution by far was Mail Express. Visitors loved the web based functionality and MicroSoft Outlook plugin. The Drop Off Portal also proved a big success as IT admins learned how they could provide a hands off facility for large files to come into the business without the need for setting up FTP accounts or clogging up email servers with attachments.

If you’d like to learn more about how Globalscape solutions could help your business Replace Dropbox, contact Globalscape’s UK Master Partner here.

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Writing on his blog on this Monday, Nir Goldshalger announced that he had previously uncovered a hole affecting Accellion Secure File Transfer appliance that would allow an attacker to gain control of a users account with little more than their email address account.

A closer look at the date on the video at the bottom of his blog article (19th March 2012) and when the problem was patched (patch 9_1_166 released on 20th March 2012) would suggest that Nir did in fact identify this vulnerability, meaning that Facebook Bug Bounty Program is a worthwhile exercise.  It also demonstrates that Accellion took the issue seriously, quickly and efficiently addressing the problem when it came to light.

Software is rarely ever without flaws but all vendors do their best to ensure products don’t reach the market with problems and when they do, responding quickly is the key to maintaining brand integrity.  This also goes to highlight how important it is for customers to update the software patches released by vendors in a timely manner.  Nir was likely paid for his research and held off releasing this information for nine months, whilst I expect Accellion made a concerted effort to ensure all customers were running the latest versions of software. It will no doubt have a small negative impact on Accellion’s brand image but on the plus side, it appears to show that Accellion handled the matter in a professional manner.

Ad Hoc file transfer is one of the largest segments of the managed file transfer industry and we’re pleased to be working with some of the industries leading brands. With solutions from Biscom, Ipswitch, Globalscape and more, we at Pro2col are able to help you choose the right product to fit your feature requirement and budget limitations.  To speak to an ad hoc file transfer consultant call Pro2col today on 0333 123 1240.

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Whats the problem with disabling Java you may ask?  Well its well known that Java is really the undisputed champion when it comes to carrying larger data sets through a web browser and most managed file transfer software products use Java, almost without exception!  Why Java, well thats another discussion which has been very well documented over on the FileCatalyst web site and whilst Mac’s in general don’t account for the largest desktop market share, around 6.5% the lack of Java in OSX is a real problem for Mac users of managed file transfer solutions.

The resolution?  Well Apple aren’t stopping users from running Java on their Mac’s rather ensuring that they take the decision to enable it, this however is likely to further strain relationships between Mac users and the predominately Windows based IT departments.  I suspect that we’ll hear more about this over the coming weeks and months and given our focus on the creative marketplace we’ll keep you informed.

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The question is; why are SMB’s being targeted?  It would appear that the modest budgets available to small companies make them easier targets, giventhe lower level of expenditure on information security technologies.  Especially since SMB’s frequently work as suppliers for larger organisations, making them a more attractive proposition to hackers than the more conventional direct attack on the corporate target.

What does this have to do with managed file transfer I hear you ask?  MFT has generally been considered a technology more appropriate to corporate organisation’s – with its big price tag and grand title.  Times are changing for the MFT marketplace and there are now some very comprehensive solutions available at really competitive prices.  For those SMB’s considering how they should secure data transfers with their larger corporate customers, technologies exist at around the £4,000 mark which provide an equal amount of functionality as many corporate companies have.

To discuss your file transfer requirements, whether you’re an SMB or multi-national organisation, get in touch with Pro2col or give us a call on 0333 123 1240.

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Hosted EFT provides you with your own hosted version of Globalscape’s award winning EFT Server.  Deployed at Peer1′s world class UK data centers, we have multiple hosted FTP instances set up and ready to go.  There are various options on disk space and bandwidth, along with a range of additional modules available including High Security, Auditing & Reporting and Web Transfer Clients for multi Gigabyte uploads.  This means your company can benefit from the features of EFT Server, without the upfront costs of infrastructure and licence costs.  We’ll provide you with your own dedicated IP address and help you to take advantage of the numerous branding options – all with an unlimited number of users.

If you’d like to take advantage of Globalscape’s Hosted EFT Server provided by Pro2col, then get in touch for a no obligation demonstration or free 30-day evaluation.  We’ll show you just how easy it is to be up and running in a couple of minutes so you can start simply and securely exchanging files with your trading partners and customers.

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In general employees intentions are honourable but when they need to ‘get the job done’, they adopt for the path of least resistance i.e quick and easy solutions that they can sign up to for free.  This however creates a minefield for the IT and Compliance departments who tackle a daily myriad of issues around tracking, governance and security of corporate data. With no online service completely immune from attack (take the recent announcements around LinkedIn and Yahoo) the issue is very real and pressing.

Inevitably the bottom line is that the business needs to invest in an ad hoc file transfer solution that enables employees to send files on an ad hoc basis.  Fortunately for businesses this issue has existed for some time, and a number of the managed file transfer vendors we work with offer solutions to these problems.  Selecting the right solution depends upon the number of users, security requirements, size of the data sets, preferred deployment option (on-site/hosted/SaaS), specific functionality required and budget – but that’s where we come in to help you through the vendor selection process.

Finally let’s not forget that there are a wide variety of email clients used in today’s businesses.  The most dominant – Microsoft Outlook has been well addressed by the majority of managed file transfer vendors.  Lotus Notes on the other hand hasn’t received the same time and attention but there are a couple of options out there, I guess this is down to size of their shrinking market share.  When it comes to Apple however everyone falls short.  This has little to do with the developers ability – more with the architecture of Apple Mail, Microsoft Entourage or Outlook for Mac, none of which support plugin’s in the same way.  Still, all of the vendors provide a webmail facility if you need to support Mac OS users.

For further assistance in selecting the most appropriate ad hoc file transfer solution for your business please get in touch with the UK’s leading MFT experts on 0333 123 1240.

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This is great in most instances but imagine a situation where you’ve sent an email using the plugin within your email client of choice, only to later find that you’ve attached the wrong document.  Worse than that, it contains sensitive customer or financial data – what then?  You make a frantic call to your IT Help Desk asking them to delete the file or remove access to it.  You then get confirmation from the kind Support Desk person to say that they’ve action your request.  Great, you’re in the clear…. but upon returning to your email you see that your customer has already downloaded the file and you have the email notification to prove it.  Where you usually greet the notification with a shrug of the shoulders in the knowledge that the managed file transfer solution has once again done its job, this time it leaves you cold!

Fortunately not all managed file transfer solutions are built the same.  Some have DLP capabilities ensuring that sensitive data is quarantined whilst one vendor we work with provides a very unique capability, remote file termination.  How is this done I hear you ask, well give us a call and we’ll tell you!  Suffice to say, this type of technology provides the highest levels of security available therefore isn’t pitched at your general ad hoc file transfer users.  It’s more appropriate for those companies dealing with extremely sensitive data, e.g. data needing to be exchanged between board members, patent information, IPO, MBO, acquisitions and mergers information and so on.

If your business has a requirement to move data in a more secure manner than your existing file transfer technology allows, speak to Pro2col as we’ve got technologies that can handle the most sensitive of data.

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Dropbox announced yesterday on their blog that after hiring some “outside experts” to investigate why certain Dropbox users were getting spam to their non-public Dropbox email addresses, the experts concluded that a Dropbox employee’s account was hacked and the details were lifted from a project document.  No details were provided on the numbers of users affected, what other information was compromised or why account details were stored in an unencrypted document.

Ordinarily we’re singing the praise of managed file transfer solutions as an alternative to custom built, cumbersome, unsupported, legacy FTP servers. However, a quick search on Google this morning showed me that perhaps more people are now searching the internet for a secure alternative to Dropbox, likely due to the broadcast of recent security issues.

A business’ decision to select Dropbox or any other cloud based technology for storing and sharing company data, should be taken with caution.  Cloud based solutions in general offer significantly more advanced features than your average in house managed file transfer solution, which end users have grown accustomed to.  Why?  Because they’re developing for a single, controlled environment over which the vendor has complete control whereas a managed file transfer vendor has to develop for multiple server based operating systems and the QA process can be lengthy, thus inhibiting progress of a product.

There are however a number of reasons why a greater degree of security can be achieved by deploying an in house managed file transfer solution, here are four of them:

1. It’s not a big Cloud brand target with hundreds and thousands of users
2. Data is stored local to you and you have complete control over the security policies
3. Access is securely controlled by AD/LDAP and other user group contained within corporate authentication tools
4. Reporting and blacklisting tools mean that hackers can be monitored and banned very quickly

If you are concerned about the lack security, control, auditing and governance of your business data then speak to Pro2col.  We can help to analyse your requirements, select the most appropriate vendors and assist right through the evaluation process and beyond.  Managed File Transfer is fast becoming a necessary business tool and is certainly a more than adequate alternative to Dropbox.

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Whilst cloud solutions certainly offer users with a raft of features currently not offered by other proprietary software vendors, they tend to lend themselves to being targets for hackers due to their high profile and wide adoption.  It begs the question, “Should consumer grade cloud based technologies be allowed within the enterprise at all?”

Managed file transfer vendors are fast catching up with the cloud based solutions, adding Dropbox like features to provide users with the simple way of working to which they’ve become accustomed.   Whilst also adding new features such as mobile file sharing capabilities to cover off the BYOD angle, never before have MFT vendors being trying so hard to keep up with the contemporary features that users are demanding.

There are many benefits associated with implementing an in-house managed file transfer solution.  Possibly one of the most important in terms of security (taking into consideration the above) is the fact that they don’t become a high profile, data centre target.  Taking the understated, in-house deployment may well help you to slip under the radar whilst also providing a range of security features.

If your company is using Dropbox to share data then Pro2col can help.  We’ve worked with various companies across a range of industry sectors to replace consumer grade file sharing technologies.  Call one of our sales consultants on 0333 123 1240.

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