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- Home | Generic Systems Australia
Local Experts in Secure Managed File Transfer We are independent experts in data transfer - more than just software suppliers. Our curated suite of industry-leading solutions, coupled with our unparalleled experience and expertise, have made us the Asia-Pacific region’s most trusted partners in Secure Managed File Transfer technologies. Founded in 1993, we’re now proud to count among our clients some of the region’s most iconic brands, who rely on our unique skills and readily available local support to optimise their IT systems, hone their business processes and integrate their supply chains. Contact Us Secure, Reliable, Automated Data Transfers for Your Organisation It's never been easier to move data securely and reliably, inside and outside your organisation. Let us show you how a cost-effective, class-leading MFT solution will boost your team's productivity and your business's bottom line. Learn More Class-Leading Managed File Transfer Solution Centralise and secure fie transfers, streamlining manual processes and complying with data security standards. Enterprise Standard CyberSecurity Safeguard file transfers and meet all your IT security and compliance requirements leveraging the latest encryption technology and authentication methods. Move Data Automatically Replace your manual processes, legacy scripts and outdated software with highly-configurable automated workflows. On-prem, in the Cloud, and anywhere in-between, our solutions fully integrate with your existing IT systems. Local Experts Our local technical experts have decades of experience helping organisations of all sizes design and deploy better ways of managing their data transfers. Protect Your Data from Escalating Cybercrime Automatically intercept and stop cyberthieves before they infiltrate your organisation. Prevent malware and phishing attempts from entering your organisation, and protect your employees from accidentally opening digital doors - all without disrupting the seamless transfer of business critical information between your team, customers and trading partners. Learn More Proudly Supporting Our Australian & Multinational Clients Since 1993 Leverage the Power and Flexibility of GoAnywhere MFT At Generic Systems Australia we're your local experts in the world's #1 managed file transfer solution, GoAnywhere MFT. GoAnywhere's advanced technical features, flexibility, and high configurability - within an easy to use central interface - have consistently led independent analysts to declare it the world's class leading MFT. Learn More Contact Us
- Companies ignoring hack warnings | GSA
< News Companies ignoring hack warnings 4 Oct 2024 Almost half of the businesses warned by Australia’s top cyber security agency of impending hacks didn’t bother to return the phone call. In an alarming disclosure to The Australian Financial Review, the new director-general of the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), Abigail Bradshaw, said that the agency had contacted organisations 620 times in the last 12 months to tell them it had information “that suggests that you might have a problem”. But of those calls, 280 were never returned. Bradshaw said the agency shared such information because it had been shown to help companies to achieve positive outcomes in the face of escalating threats while enabling The ASD to detect more incidents. Sharing Encouraged The ASD’s alerts are part of a broader government plan to encourage more information sharing. New rules recently announced will permit businesses to share private details with government agencies without concern it will be used against them in future damages claims. That being said, regulators are still tightening the screws on directors and executives to take responsibility for cyber security prevention and recovery. The new laws won’t provide “immunity” for those who fail to prepare in the months or years leading up to a hack. Hacking: this century’s “H-Bomb” Not only is cybercrime financially lucrative for ransomware gangs, but digital attacks are becoming a critical component of geopolitical conflict, Bradshaw said. “The line between state-based actors and criminal actors is becoming finer,” she said. Cybercrime and conflict are set to escalate as quantum computing coupled with artificial intelligence supercharges hacking efforts. The US’s Pentagon described that emerging combination as “the 21st century’s equivalent of the nuclear bomb”. The Australian Financial Review warned that “if you get caught out by a cyberattack which causes broader harm, directors will not be able to talk their way out of trouble by saying they thought their techies had it covered”. Acting on ASD Alerts To mitigate hefty fines and sanctions, directors and executives need to prioritise their time and attention on cyber safety. A Managed File Transfer (MFT) solution such as GoAnywhere MFT can encrypt data at rest and in transit, complying with the highest data security standards. It manages inbound and outbound file transfers across an organisation, using industry-standard file transfer protocols and encryption to protect data in transit and at rest. Advanced Threat Protection and Adaptive Loss Prevention add a further layer of defence. SFT Threat Protection enables safe collaboration with external parties, preventing malware from entering an organisation, and reducing the risk of employees losing or mishandling sensitive data. Local Experts On Hand Generic Systems Australia are local experts in helping companies deploy Managed File Transfer and Advanced Threat Protection. We’ve assisted hundreds of organisations across Australia and New Zealand to secure their data and keep cybercriminals at bay. If you’d like to discuss how we can help you, please feel welcome to contact me, Bradley Copson. I’m always happy to have an obligation-free discussion, explain how simply we can transition you from outdated software and approaches, and offer you a zero-cost Proof of Concept. Previous Next
- Think Mutual Bank finds GoAnywhere to be “the Obvious Choice” | GSA
< Case Studies Think Mutual Bank finds GoAnywhere to be “the Obvious Choice” Decad es of experience helping Asia-Pacific customers have established Generic Systems Australia as our region’s local experts in secure managed file transfer. In this case study, we share how GoAnywhere MFT , the world’s leading MFT solution , solved a US bank’s need to integrate with its external partners’ IT systems – extra fast! Think Mutual Bank, located in the US’s sprawling midwest, was searching for a way to transfer data between disparate banking systems. Although their core system runs on the IBMi, much of their broader business banking ecosystem runs on MS SQL. Getting all the data into the one place - their IBMi - then copying updated files back to the MS SQL system, was a daily challenge. Van Sy, Lead Systems Administrator at Think Mutual Bank, was tasked with finding a PCI DSS compliant solution – fast! Finding the Right Fit – Fast! Although Think Mutual Bank had a product that performed some of the functions they needed, Sy began a search for a product which offered greater functionality, and which could be implemented in the short timeframe he’d been given. As Sy explained: “We own another product that has some FTP functionality, but it doesn’t have the data push that we wanted. We wanted to be able to copy just certain fields from a SQL database over to the IBM i, and GoAnywhere does that, all in one package. "Due to our short timeline – literally, we were looking at just a month," he added. "We didn’t want or have time to do any coding ourselves, so GoAnywhere became the obvious choice.” Also key to the project’s success was a product whose technical resource staff were readily on hand to ensure the product was up and running when Think Bank needed it. “The support person I dealt with was very knowledgeable," Sy said. "Every time we had questions, he was there, and it really helped that he was very familiar with the product.” Planning for the Future A year on from the successful installation and transition to GoAnywhere MFT, Sy was planning to extend his use of the solution’s functionality. “We’ve been running GoAnywhere for about a year now, using the database push and the FTP functionality. In the short term, we’ll probably extend it out to other systems than just our business banking side. With GoAnywhere, it’s a secure FTP client, so I’ll be moving some of the older systems over to it.” Added Sy: “Most of the other solutions out there do one or two things, but not the whole package – that’s the reason we went with the GoAnywhere product. It really met all of our specific needs, with the database conversion, the database push and the secure FTP. So far, it’s been really solid.” Previous Next
- Bargain Retailer finds GoAnywhere Really “Delivers the Goods” | GSA
< Case Studies Bargain Retailer finds GoAnywhere Really “Delivers the Goods” Decades of experience helping Asia-Pacific customers have established Generic Systems Australia as our region’s local experts in secure managed file transfer. In this case study, we share how a US retailer is leveraging both robustness and advanced features of GoAnywhere MFT , the world’s leading MFT solution . Grocery Outlet is a chain of more than 300 family-owned deep-discount grocery stores based in Berkeley, California. The retailer helps more than 1.5 million shoppers each week save big, making it the US’s largest extreme value retailer. Homegrown: Good for Produce; Not for File Transfers Steve Tuscher is the Director of IT at Grocery Outlet, overseeing technology which manages more than 33,000 file transfers each day. “We had always transferred files between our systems with homegrown FTP scripts,” he said, “but knew we needed a better solution. Writing the scripts for these transfers was time consuming. However, the real challenge the IT team faced was tracking down what happened if a file exchange failed. The grocer primarily wanted to send files back and forth reliably and in a controlled manner. They also sought a solution that included error reporting functionality that was platform independent, as they exchange files with multiple vendors, suppliers, and other trading partners daily. “One of our vendors suggested a file transfer tool but it was priced out at US$100,000, and we didn't want to do that,” said Steve. “We knew of GoAnywhere Managed File Transfer (MFT) because they'd been in the AS400 (IBM i) world for a couple decades at least, the same as we have been. So we thought we'd give GoAnywhere MFT a shot. He added: “It's been a great product. It worked from day one and it's worked ever since.” Bargain Retailer Gets Money’s Worth While GoAnywhere does the heavy lifting on the large volume of daily files transferred, Steve discovered another surprising benefit of GoAnywhere MFT — managing the many emails the company received and creating a reporting system for them as well. “After we learned that GoAnywhere could retrieve mail from an Exchange mailbox, we developed an automated script to do that. It checks for incoming mail every three seconds and launches a job based on if there's new mail on the IBMi. We then take that request, run another job, then return the email with a report. It's a handy little reporting system that's very popular,” he said. GoAnywhere not only provides users a way to simplify and secure their file transfers, keeping sensitive data secure both at rest and in motion, it also helps retailers meet relevant security and compliance regulations, with auditing and reporting functionality, as well as strong encryption and security protocols. “All the other extras that came with it, and all of the ways we're using GoAnywhere now have been a bonus,” said Steve. In particular, he called out the solution’s scripting language. “The robustness of that language has been a real surprise – a pleasant surprise,” he said. GoAnywhere’s ease-of-use, and ability to manage the many file transfers occurring each day without the need to write homemade FTP scripts enables Grocery Outlet’s IT team to spend their time on more critical, and less manually intensive tasks. Improved Workflows and Partner Relations Grocery Outlet extracts much of its data from FTP scripts. With GoAnywhere, the previously complex process now runs unattended every night. “It's been great. Just having the ability to run an FTP script to get data, zip it up, and send it somewhere has been phenomenal,” Steve said. The GoAnywhere solution saves Grocery Outlet’s IT team time in two ways: problem resolution and eliminating the problems all together. “Typically, you'd copy some script and create a new script, and it would generally run. The problem is that when it wouldn't run, you wouldn't find out about it until it was too late, or until people were waiting for their orders or in a crisis. “The real time saving in GoAnywhere is that it basically never fails. That thing is rock solid. I can't remember the last time we had a failure due to GoAnywhere. If there's a failure, it's because the receiving side is down or not available.” With GoAnywhere quickly replacing all internal FTP scripts, the grocer transformed their data delivery across all their business partners and all internal systems. Steve noted his surprise at being able to do so as quickly and as easily as they did. The biggest surprise for the company, however, was how they use the email retrieval function. “That has been a huge homerun application for being able to request and report on your phone, and have it delivered back to your phone, like a sales report, within seconds. The response time is amazing! Literally within seconds you’re able to get a nicely formatted HTML email report on your phone, no matter where you are, via GoAnywhere. That has been great,” Steve said. He said he tried to stay up to date on updates to GoAnywhere, so that Grocery Outlet could take advantage of new features. Quick ROI Steve is enthusiastic in his recommendation of GoAnywhere, exclaiming: “It will be the easiest implementation you've ever had. It will be the best value of software that you've ever had. And you'll be sorry if you do not explore this package.” Previous Next
- Survey finds IT leaders increasingly focussed on PROACTIVE cybersecurity | GSA
< News Survey finds IT leaders increasingly focussed on PROACTIVE cybersecurity 12 June 2024 Australian IT leaders are increasingly focusing on proactive cybersecurity, according to a new survey released today. In a survey conducted by Tenable, IT leaders said that, while the ability to respond to and recover from cyber incidents remained essential, they are now focusing more on preventing such incidents altogether. Preventative measures they are investing in include: access controls and monitoring (64%) regular software updates and patch management (64%), and regular employee training and education on cybersecurity best practices (60%). Dark Tide Rising The most recent Australian Signals Directorate Report shows that cybercrime is on the increase for enterprises. On average, a new report is received every six minutes, up 23% year on year. The average cost of cybercrime has also increased by up to 14%. Saving Ransoms, Reputations, Operating Costs Adopting preventative cybersecurity measures isn’t only saving companies from the costs of cybercrime. Companies who take proactive steps say they are also benefiting from lower cyber insurance premiums. 44% of IT leaders experienced reductions ranging from 5% to 15%. Reductions of that magnitude demonstrate that insurers too are recognising the effectiveness of proactive cybersecurity. Proactive, Layered Defence A proactive strategy for storing, transferring and securing data is essential for keeping cyberthieves at bay. A layered approach - secure file transfer, secure content engines, secure digital rights management, and employee education – is the optimal way to prevent data breaches. At Generic Systems Australia , we recommend the class-leading secure managed file transfer solution, GoAnywhere MFT , to keep data safe - at rest, and in transit. Coupled with our Advanced Threat Protection Bundle , we enable organisations to safely collaborate without exposing systems to the risks of malware gaining a foothold within their IT systems. About The Survey Tenable partnered with Pure Profile to collect data from more than 200 IT and cybersecurity leaders across the insurance, banking, education, healthcare and transport industries in Australia. If you’d like to join the growing number of IT managers taking strong preventative measures to avoid cybercrime, please get in touch with me, Bradley Copson ( mail to :bradley@gensys.com.au ). I’m always happy to have an obligation-free discussion, explain how simply we can transition you from outdated software and approaches, and offer you a zero-cost Proof of Concept. At Generic Systems Australia , we’re your local experts in secure Managed File Transfer. Previous Next
- Black 'Fileday' | GSA
< News Black 'Fileday' 29 Nov 2023 Australian shoppers were tipped to spend $6.36B across the Black Friday weekend, according to the Australian Retailers Association.The surge in sales has in turn created a tsunami of data transfers, as businesses share orders, files and information with their supply chains.For some businesses, it will be a stressful period. But others - those who entrust their file transfers to GoAnywhere MFT - will surf the data tsunami with ease, as GoAnywhere conveys all their valuable files reliably and securely.(And of course, our local technical team at Generic Systems Australia will always be on hand to share our unparalleled MFT expertise with our customers.) Previous Next
- SES Encrypts and Audits Global Client Data | GSA
< Case Studies SES Encrypts and Audits Global Client Data Decad es of experience helping Asia-Pacific customers have established Generic Systems Australia as our region’s local experts in secure managed file transfer. In this case study, we share how global experts in operational resilience – SES – take advantage of GoAnywhere MFT , the world’s leading MFT solution , to manage the transfer of more than 2,000 files daily. Software escrow agreements are becoming increasingly common for organisations worldwide. Medium and large enterprises, especially those in retail, energy, and financing, rely on these agreements to provide coverage for the unique source code, files, and other software assets critical to a company’s intellectual property. To prevent loss of this information during sudden downtime, a data breach, or natural disaster, organisations create a software escrow agreement with a third-party vendor to protect and back up their data. The third party then takes the data, creates an inventory of everything that’s to be escrowed, and puts the source code and other assets into a vault for maximum protection. SES is a third-party vendor that provides software escrow agreements, intellectual property protection, and cybersecurity risk management globally. Based in Manchester, UK, SES has more than twenty years of experience providing security to more than 2,500 professionals in 40+ countries. "Dealing with software escrow agreements is our bread and butter," said Tom Sweet, Information Security and Systems Manager at SES. It’s an area of constant growth and adjusting to keep clients happy and source code regularly updated. We are continually developing and innovating.” Often, SES does this with tools such as GoAnywhere MFT. For SES, GoAnywhere Managed File Transfer (MFT) has been a well-used and finely-tuned addition to its cybersecurity solutions. With the software in place, it performs on average nearly 2,000 uploads for clients per day — a mix of small and large files — as well as help monthly and quarterly businesses with their source code deposits. Switched from Manual File Transfers to Managed File Transfer Before GoAnywhere came into the picture, SES used a web gateway, an AWS-backed instance, to receive source code for its clients. It also occasionally used old-fashioned file transfer methods: physical disks and SD cards that were tracked, signed for, and had a direct chain of custody which could be followed. While this mixed process — AWS-backed instance and physical mail — worked at the time, it still lacked the ability to track user and file transfer activity. Having an audit trail was important to the business. When auditing also became a client requirement, SES looked for a way to streamline, structure, encrypt, and audit the exchange of data. SES handled a high volume of file transfers and needed robust security practices for the data it processed and stored every week. So the it was time to find a centralised solution which could do all of this and meet its trading partners’ needs. The tracked-and-signed file transfer processes SES used led to an evaluation of GoAnywhere MFT, a robust and fast-growing product which used similar techniques (tracking, signing, and a clear chain of custody) for sensitive file transfers. GoAnywhere was a hit. It took Tom Sweet mere days to learn the product. He attended two webinars, then jumped in and followed his intuition. The turnaround had to be quick, but the learning curve was straightforward. SES implemented GoAnywhere across its Linux systems and has depended on it ever since for day-to-day file transfers, streamlined encryption, and consistent auditing. Benefit#1: File Encryption and Security With GoAnywhere fully implemented, SES has been able to ensure all file transfers sent by its clients are encrypted in transit and sent to the right place. SES has also ensured that encryption keys are held separately. These are just two of the strict requirements SES needs to follow for its clients in order to stand out in a sea of escrow and backup service platforms. "It’s risk versus security," Tom said. "With HR and payroll data, the risk is high, so the security needs to be high as well."nearly 2,000 uploads for clients per day — a mix of small and large files — as well as help monthly and quarterly businesses with their source code deposits. Benefit#2: Fast File Transfer & Trading Partner Setup New trading partners and file transfer users can be set up in minutes. "Less than that if I’m rushed," Tom said. "The quickest ones we’ve had people test: I’ve sent the email saying here’s your username, sent the password out over SMS, and people test the log-in within 10 minutes." Sweet uses private and public keys to ensure the encryption and validity of the new transfers he creates. When the file transfers are executed, most run, start to finish, in less than 30 minutes. Benefit #3: Ease of Use & Automation "The main thing we use GoAnywhere for is managing users, auditing the logs, and giving users a secure gateway into our systems that would normally be firewalled," Tom, said. All of this is simple with GoAnywhere, and he believes the product’s biggest strength is its ease of use. Whether he needs to streamline, update, or re-deploy the product across systems and users, the process has been painless. Automation is another huge benefit of GoAnywhere. SES use GoAnywhere to do the heavy lifting for SaaS-based clients. These clients transfer large amounts of source code end data that are pushed into a SaaS escrow and captured in real time. "We help these clients configure a script that connects over SFTP to a GoAnywhere service," Tom said. "GoAnywhere then audits those transfers." The product securely transfers and audits at the same time, all automatically for nearly 60 clients who need their source code updated on a daily or monthly frequency. This enables SES to automate on Windows and Linux to meet the security requirements of each client. GoAnywhere’s granular security controls enabled Sweet to make GoAnywhere as safe and security-driven as possible against internal risks and user errors. "I stripped it back to who can do what," he said. Previously shared passwords were locked down. Web users were restricted to only the areas of the product they needed, and file storage was controlled — files could only be stored in the right areas of the network. "If someone in a company wanted access to the transfers, or to the systems, they could break the loop to that cycle. So that’s why we vault [client data] and back it up in an encrypted format. We make sure the file transfers are encrypted; that’s key too." Benefit#4: Regulation Compliance Many SES clients have compliance requirements which SES must meet. To achieve these needs, SES has applied ISO 27001 compliance across all clients to ensure all information sent between SES and other companies is secure. "ISO 27001 mandates that we create policies, processes, and procedures which we can prove using evidence-based systems," Tom said. "This says, ‘Okay, by default, you [the client] get all of this [security]. All files will be encrypted, and all second factor messages will be sent out-of-band so they aren’t sent over the same method of communication, and so on." Meanwhile, while encryption is the same and applied for everyone, clients can choose if they want to use multi-factor authentication (MFA) with passwords or SSH keys for an extra layer of security. GoAnywhere offers multi-factor authentication methods, including keys and certificates, for increased file protection. SES also uses GoAnywhere to encrypt every backup of escrow data that is then kept in offline vaults. "This ensures there’s 99.9% availability," Tom said. "No one thinks escrow is important until it’s too late," he added, so SES provides these offline backups with GoAnywhere’s help to give organisations peace of mind. Benefit#5: Auditing and Administration One of the biggest justifications for purchasing GoAnywhere was its auditing functionality. Tom and his team uses these audit logs to see who is connecting to their SFTP servers, what they’re doing on those servers, and how much they’ve done. This level of detail is critical, especially when dealing with sensitive escrow documents, software assets, and source code. "The log-in and auditing process in GoAnywhere is important for our information security standards. We audit the transfers not just to be able to take them securely, but also to prove who has been on and transferred what and when. The audit trail is important." If Sweet needs to change something, GoAnywhere makes it easy. Admins can make modifications or adjustments to their processes to keep constant with security requirements. "We can do this with GoAnywhere very easily," he said. "Then we just send out a new host key to our clients." What’s Next: Remote Agents and Advanced Workflows Right now, SES retrieves files from clients. But in the near future, it hopes to roll out GoAnywhere Remote Agents and GoAnywhere Advanced Workflows for customers who want zero involvement in the file transfer process. With these features enabled, Sweet and his team will be able to pull data from each client when needed without requiring manual work or engagement on their end. "Remote agents and advanced workflows will enable us to go out, talk to, and pull the requests for daily, weekly, or monthly file transfers," Tom explained. One Admin, One Product Tom Sweet has used GoAnywhere for four years. As the main product administrator, he’s always looking for new ways to implement the software, integrate it with other web and cloud services, roll it out as part of security-client processes, and improve the success of GoAnywhere at SES. "I want to get as much out of the product as I can," Tom said, reflecting on being the singular admin for GoAnywhere. "The more I push it out, the more we get a better return from our customer experience." And for any organisation — SES included — customer satisfaction is top priority. GoAnywhere’s encryption, automation, and ease of use help make that happen. 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- Keeping Ahead of Competition in Commercial Real Estate | GSA
< Case Studies Keeping Ahead of Competition in Commercial Real Estate Decades of experience helping Asia-Pacific customers have established Generic Systems Australia as our region’s local experts in secure managed file transfer. In this case study, we share the many ways in which an international commercial real estate firm leverages the flexibility of GoAnywhere MFT . One commercial real estate company has a mission to redefine their industry with long-term investments in people and technology that deliver actionable insights and create the best customer experience. They’ve also made it their mission to ensure any data they’re transferring is transferred securely. This corporation is an industry-leading commercial real estate company that offers a robust suite of services to its multifamily and commercial property clients. They offer services in commercial real estate investment sales, mortgage banking, and mortgage servicing. They now operate worldwide, have over 1,000 employees, and have closed billions of dollars in production volume. GoAnywhere MFT plays a key role in their success. Retiring REST A Senior Engineer provided some insight into the company’s three-year usage of GoAnywhere. Originally, when they needed to wire SFTP files to the bank, they used a homegrown tool, built internally and solely for the purpose of SFTP transfers to wire payments. However, because processes were taking too much time, they decided to look elsewhere for a better solution. What they found exceeded their original expectations. Prior to implementing GoAnywhere MFT, the process of keeping data consistent was a challenge. Stated the Senior Engineer: “Before GoAnywhere, we used the same REST call and put data in the SQL Server, but I was having a hard time with Windows vs. AWS and Azure and getting the same data repeatedly.” With GoAnywhere, Windows can grab data easily and consistently. Daily Deliveries Once the Senior Engineer learned the product, which didn’t take long, they were an expert in GoAnywhere. Now, more than 1,715 jobs are run each day. Most of the file transfers are B2B, moving from the company to a financial institution of some sort. “We wanted something that could go to a database seamlessly. We must get files to the bank in a very timely matter. Every wire file goes to the Federal Reserve and must get a Federal Reserve number before it can be funded to the bank. That all takes time. You don’t want to be at a standstill at 5:00 pm on a Friday trying to figure out why you can’t get a wire file to a bank! They’re funding loans that are $40 million!” Now the Senior Engineer can set up new transfers in just two minutes once they have all the information and can execute transfers in 10 seconds. If it clears, transfers start and stop in about one second! “Currently, we have 63 projects running in the GoAnywhere scheduler. We started with 15 and it has grown from there.” Mortgage Rate Magic Aside from the daily deliveries, the company also utilises GoAnywhere to stay one step ahead of their competition and offering the best mortgage rates possible. Mortgage rates update every minute. Because the company is committed to offering the best interest rate in the steep pool of competition, they avoid offering one single rate per day, as some of their competitors do. It’s especially important for them to pull the data in real time because even a couple of points in an interest rate change can make a big difference. GoAnywhere MFT helps the company’s competitive edge thrive and delivers an advantage by allowing real-time interest rate comparison. “We use MFT to get the latest mortgage rates available,” the Senior Engineer said. “We have several applications that use these rates. Each time you pull the rates, it costs money. Instead of having each application pull rates, we have MFT make a REST call to grab the rates and push them into a SQL Server, for all of our on-premises dotnet applications to use.” All applications that need the updated rates call the SQL Server to get the rates in real time. From there on, the rates are formatted into a JSON file and sent to AWS, where the rest of their cloud-based apps can use them. All applications have the same data source that is updated at the same time; therefore, they only need one outbound call to grab the rates. All the apps in the AWS environment can also get the necessary rates at the exact same time. It doesn’t matter which application connects; it should get the same rate. Exceeding Expectations Among transferring files securely, upgrades and updates for GoAnywhere MFT have served as an additional, yet unexpected benefit for the company. They have been easy to complete, and the Senior Engineer was able to successfully conduct their company’s annual disaster recovery (DR) test without fail. Overall, the Senior organization is very satisfied with their experience using GoAnywhere MFT. At this commercial real estate company, GoAnywhere’s flexibility is exploited for a great many time-saving projects, allowing valuable staff and system time to be directed to other areas. Although the company is typically using GoAnywhere MFT to transfer daily B2B files to financial institutions and provide competitive mortgage rates to their clients, their Senior Engineer said they often find new ways to leverage the product. “In meetings when someone has an idea, or has been doing something manually repeatedly, I know that GoAnywhere can take care of it and do what’s being requested. I always say, ‘We can do that! They can do this!’” Previous Next
- How Load Balancing optimises your file transfers | GSA
< News How Load Balancing optimises your file transfers 30 Apr 2024 Network bottlenecks that cause business downtime are the bete noir of corporate IT teams. Businesswire found that 82% of companies experienced at least one downtime incident during the past three years… costing small businesses $660 per minute, and larger organisations $14,000 per minute. Load balancing is a key technique for keeping network traffic flowing. What is Load Balancing? Load balancing is key to “clustering”, where multiple systems work together as a single unit to help ensure high-availability, scalability, and reliability. It’s a technique which enables organisations to distribute workloads and network traffic across multiple servers or network interfaces in a computer cluster. Effective load balancing means that network traffic is always directed to servers which are “available”, should a particular server become overwhelmed or fail. Balancing workloads optimises the performance of systems and applications –– for example, a managed file transfer (MFT) solution for exchanging data –– preventing bottlenecks and other efficiency-sapping impacts. Why Load Balance for File Transfers? Delays in sending files can have significant negative ripple effects throughout an organisation. Incoming orders may not be received, or shipping may be delayed, leading to dissatisfied customers. Delayed financial transactions with trading partners may weaken an organisation’s supply chain. Load balancing helps organisations continue to operate ‘business as usual’ even when a system fails or is inundated with a heavy network workload. Other benefits of load balancing include: Scalability: Load balancers can help organisations adapt to growing and changing conditions and workloads without suffering adverse events. New servers can be seamlessly added to the cluster when more scalability is needed. Performance Optimisation : Traffic is routed to the server most capable of handling a given request based on location or server health. Redundancy: Organisations safeguard themselves, should one server become overloaded or fail, with load balancing enabling processing work to continue without interruption. Using Middleware and Active-Active Framework for Load Balancing A robust managed file transfer solution, such as Fortra’s GoAnywhere MFT, delivers critical load balancing and scaling when installed in a cluster. The solution’s load balancer, GoAnywhere Gateway, serves as both a reverse proxy and load balancer. When paired with Gateway as a load balancer, each inbound file server connection can be distributed to available systems in the environment. MFT workflows performed in a clustering environment gain increased performance and throughput. If a system within a cluster fails, GoAnywhere Gateway automatically routes all new trading partner connections to the remaining systems in the cluster. For mission critical environments and processes, this is an “active-active” framework providing high availability. Enhanced Security GoAnywhere Gateway also provides an extra security layer when exchanging data. The Gateway keeps file sharing services such as FTPS, HTTPS, SFTP servers and any documents secure in the private or internal network. No additional inbound ports need to be opened, which helps organisations meet compliance requirements such as those for PCI DSS, SOX, HIPAA, GLBA, as well as certain privacy laws. This round robin algorithm essentially works like this: For each new FTP, FTPS, or SFTP connection from a trading partner, the Gateway distributes that session sequentially to the next FTP/FTPS/SFTP server within the cluster. HTTP/S, however, is a stateless protocol. It uses the round robin algorithm but will persist each connection for a time to maintain session integrity. HTTP/S sessions typically are only served by one HTTP/S server at a time. If you’d like to discuss how your organisation can reduce downtime through MFT load balancing, please feel welcome to contact our Business Manager, Bradley Copson (mail to: bradley@gensys.com.au ). He’s always happy to have an obligation-free discussion, explain how simply we can transition you from outdated software and approaches, and offer you a zero-cost Proof of Concept. Generic Systems Australia Your Local Experts in Secure Managed File Transfer Previous Next
- Secret Ransomware Payments Rife: Survey | GSA
< News Secret Ransomware Payments Rife: Survey 19 Aug 2024 Pervasive cyberattacks are leading most companies to pay ransoms and break their “Do Not Pay” policies, according to recent research. A poll of IT and security decision-makers conducted by Cohesity found that that most companies have paid a ransom in the last two years. In fact, 79% of respondents said their company had been the victim of a ransomware attack during the second half of 2023. The breadth of an organisation’s “attack surfaces” depends on the size and scope of its data environments. However, 78% of respondents said their data security risk had increased faster than the growth in the data they manage. They also said their organisation’s cyber resilience and data security strategies had not kept pace with emerging threats – only 21% had full confidence in their company’s cyber resilience strategy. Slow Recovery, Lack of Testing Cyber resilience is a critical element of business continuity, and encompasses a company’s ability to recover their data and restore business processes when they suffer a cyberattack or IT outage. Key insights from the survey on this point included: All respondents said they need more than 24 hours to recover data and restore business processes. Only 7% said their company could recover data and restore business processes within 1-3 days. 35% said they could recover and restore in 4 to 6 days, while 34% need 1-2 weeks, and 23% need more than 3 weeks. Only 12% of those surveyed said their company had stress-tested their data security, data management, and data recovery processes or solutions in the six months prior to being surveyed. 46% hadn’t tested in more than 12 months. Secret Ransom Payments While 84% had a “do not pay” policy, Cohesity reported that 94% of respondents divulged that their company would pay a ransom to recover data and restore business processes. 5% said “maybe, depending on the ransom amount”. Two thirds said their company would be willing to pay over US$3M to recover data and restore business processes, and a third said their company would be willing to pay over $5M. Don’t Pay: Prevent! The volume, frequency, and sophistication of ransomware attacks will only increase. And paying ransoms only encourages cyberthieves to escalate their efforts. Worse, if ransoms are seen as “easy money”, new miscreants will be tempted to acquire ransomware tools from the dark web and join the cyber crimewave. Rather than investing in ransoms, organisations need to invest in their cyber resilience. That starts with keeping thieves at bay - protecting valuable data where it is stored, and when it is transferred – and building organisational capability in rapidly responding to and recovering from cyberattacks. Building cyber resilience need not be a drag on an organisation’s efficiency. Automation can ensure data is protected at rest and in motion, requiring little to no manual management. For example, Managed File Transfer (MFT) solutions such as the class-leading GoAnywhere MFT encrypt data at rest and in transit, complying with the highest data security standards (including the US’s and Europe’s HIPAA, HITECH, PCI DSS, SOX, and GDPR). MFT manages inbound and outbound file transfers across an organisation, using industry-standard file transfer protocols such as SFTP, FTPS, and AS2 to send files securely, and encryption standards such as Open PGP and AES to protect data in transit and at rest. Advanced Threat Protection and Adaptive Loss Prevention add a further layer of defence. SFT Threat Protection enables safe collaboration with external parties, preventing malware from entering your organisation, and reducing opportunities for employees to lose or mishandle sensitive data. Local Expertise Ready to Help Generic Systems Australia are your local experts in Managed File Transfer and Advanced Threat Protection. We’ve assisted hundreds of organisations across the Asia-Pacific region to secure their data, keep cybercriminals at bay… and keep ransomware off the books. If you’d like to discuss improving your cybersecurity, please feel welcome to contact me , Bradley Copson. I’m always happy to have an obligation-free discussion, explain how simply we can transition you from outdated software and approaches, and offer you a zero-cost Proof of Concept. About the survey: Cohesity’s findings are based on a survey of 902 IT and Security decision-makers (split as close to 50:50 as possible) commissioned by Cohesity and conducted by Censuswide. Survey respondents were polled from businesses in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The top five industries selected by respondents as best representing the industry their company operates in were: IT & Telecommunications, Finance, Healthcare, Finance, HR, and Manufacturing & Utilities. Previous Next