Figure A - Most frequently detected browser based file sharing apps

File sharing applications are often free or at least cheap, simple to use and very often difficult for an IT department to trace.  This presents a major problem for the enterprise as highlighted in a recent study by Palo Alto Networks which showed that of the 1,636 enterprises surveyed, a staggering 92% of companies had an average of 13 different browser based file sharing applications in use within their network.

With recent announcements such as the DropBox security loophole and the MegaUpload service being taken down, the net is closing in on file sharing applications and services, and rightly so.  Pretty much all businesses need to share files with colleagues, customers and trading partners, but at what cost? Recent studies by the Ponemon Institute found that the average data breach costs UK firms £1.9m prompting the question, “what would be the impact of a data breach on your company”?

Over burdened IT departments throughout the UK are faced with the challenge of enabling their users to carry out day to day tasks, whilst ensuring that their activities don’t compromise the very future of the business they work for.  With legislation surrounding data breaches putting increasing pressure on IT departments and data controllers, the implementation of a secure, managed file transfer solution has never had a higher priority.

When it comes to providing users with a simple, secure file transfer solution, we can help.  Pro2col represents a number of managed file transfer vendors here in the UK and has 10 years experience in finding the right solution for businesses.  Whether its providing cross platform applications for Windows, Mac, Linux or Unix, mobile application integration for iPhone, Android, Blackberry or the iPad or email integration with Microsoft Outlook or Lotus Notes, we have the solution to fit.

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This month the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office has served a Monetary Penalty Notice of £130,000 to Powys County Council, after the details of a child protection case were sent to the wrong recipient. The penalty is the highest that the ICO has served since it received the power in April 2010. The severity of the penalty reflects the fact that the local authority had already received a warning from the ICO to tighten up its security measures following a similar breach.

Over the past 18 months Pro2col has worked closely with a number of County Councils looking to implement a simple way of securing ad-hoc, person to person file transfers.  Additionally, with County Councils looking to centralise or share the cost of services (Shared Services), Ipswitch’s MOVEit DMZ with the Ad Hoc module has proved a very popular choice, especially considering the cost of the Enterprise licence in comparison to other vendors. Read the rest of this entry »

This morning I was asked if I recommended using transport encryption or file encryption to protect company files and data.

My answer: “Use both of them, together!”

For starters, here’s a real quick summary of both encryption types:

Transport encryption (“data-in-transit”) protects the file as it travels over protocols such as FTPS (SSL), SFTP (SSH) and HTTPS. Leading solutions use encryption strengths up to 256-bit.

File encryption (“data-at-rest”) encrypts an individual file so that if it ever ended up in someone else’s possession, they couldn’t open it or see the contents. PGP is commonly used to encrypt files. Read the rest of this entry »

“My company still relies heavily on FTP.  I know we should be using something more secure, but I don’t know where to begin.”

Sound familiar?

The easy answer is that you should migrate away from antiquated FTP software because it could be putting your company’s data at risk – Unsecured data is obviously an enormous liability.  Not only does FTP pose a real security threat, but it also lacks many of the management and enforcement capabilities that modern Managed File Transfer solutions offer. Read the rest of this entry »

Typically, email is the first port of call for all non-technical staff members when faced with the task of sending large documents quickly. We’re now in an age where data leaks are common place and authorities are cracking down on insufficient security policies. According to figures published by IDG Research Services, the companies that they surveyed rated email as the third highest area of concern when it came to the security of their data. The fact of the matter is, standard email is just not capable of meeting modern day security requirements. Not only this, there are other associated problems to consider when using email for large file transfer such as email attachment size limitations, unpredictable deliverability of files, bandwidth utilisation and storage problems.

So businesses are reacting to these issues by implementing sophisticated technologies that address these concerns – which is great – but unfortunately, this is a 1-dimensional solution to a 2-dimensional problem. Providing the facilities to send files securely is one thing, guaranteeing that all file transfers within the business are completed using these facilities is another matter altogether. Read the rest of this entry »

Cloud Based MFT

Everybody is talking about the cloud; its today’s hot topic with more and more organisations considering a cloud-base (hosted) solution as an alternative to their current on-premise solution.  The shift to cloud based computing is gathering pace and consequently this is an area we’ve been looking at quite closely.

So, is Cloud based Managed File Transfer for me and what are the biggest drivers behind this trend? Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re considering implementing a managed file transfer solution during 2011 then you’re in luck.  Pro2col has been lobbying Ipswitch’s marketing team to provide a web cast specifically for the UK marketplace to address the considerations that should be taken into account when planning the implementation of a managed file transfer solution.

We’re very pleased to announce that Jonathan Lampe, Vice President of Product Management at Ipswitch File Transfer will be hosting a webinar titled, “Learn how and why MFT should fit into your IT structure, as well as insights into top security, compliance and data breach concerns.”  Jonathan will also be discussing; Read the rest of this entry »

Biscom’s recent focus on the legal sector has really paid dividends having announced that the number of Biscom Delivery Server licenses sold into the legal sector passes 5000 seats.  It seems that the legal marketplace has very much embraced BDS as a solution that understands the data exchange needs of law firms.  This coupled with the integration options with iManage amongst other legal applications make BDS a stand out winner.

Recent customer wins in the legal sector include Latham and Watkins, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, McKenna, Long & Aldrich and Reimer & Braunstein to name a few.

If you’re a UK based legal firm or corporate legal department and would like to take a look at Biscom Delivery Server for your secure file exchange requirements, please contact Ailsa Gibbs our BDS specialist at Pro2col today on 0333 123 1240.

For further information about Biscom Delivery Server visit www.biscomdeliveryserver.com

Dan Kusnetzky of ZDNet recently wrote an article featuring Data Expedition, and its “Multipurpose Transaction Protocol” (MTP/IP). If you are looking to find out more about data acceleration and fast file transfer, this is definitely worth a read…

Data Expedition accelerating “big data” By Dan Kusnetzky