< News New Cyber Laws Passed – What Australian Businesses Need to Know and Do 27 Nov 2024 Earlier this week, the Australian Parliament passed a suite of legislative reforms designed to enhance Australia’s cyber security. The reforms include a raft of new requirements and obligations on Australian businesses. About the Legislation Based on recommendations by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, the new legislation addresses a number of proposals initially set out in Australia’s 2023 – 2030 Cyber Security Strategy, and spans three separate Acts: 1. the Cyber Security Act 2024 (Cyber Security Act); 2. the Intelligence Services and Other Legislation Amendment (Cyber Security) Act 2024 ; and 3. the Security of Critical Infrastructure and Other Legislation Amendment (Enhanced Response and Prevention) Act 2024 (SOCI Amendment Act). Mandatory reporting of ransom payments, and the introduction of a new voluntary information sharing regime, will have the most immediate impact on organisations. Mandatory Reporting of Ransomware Payments Ransomware attacks are rife across Australia. The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) reported that this form of cyber extortion accounted for 11% of all cyber incidents to it in 2023-2024, up from 8% in the previous year. The Government had previously pursued a ban on ransom payments. However, its position has since moderated somewhat. The Cyber Security Act only requires organisations to report ransomware payments to the Department of Home Affairs and the ASD. This new reporting obligation will commence at latest six months after the Act receives royal assent (potentially earlier by proclamation) and applies broadly to: · organisations which are a responsible entity for a critical infrastructure asset; and · other private sector organisations which conduct business in Australia with an annual turnover exceeding a threshold (to be specified - likely to be A$3M). Ransomware reports are required to be made within 72 hours of making a payment (not the receipt of a demand or the discovery of a ransomware attack). Difficult Decisions The requirement to report payments will need to be taken into account by Boards when considering whether to pay a ransom. The Government’s general view on ransoms continues to be that organisations should not pay them. It reasons that payments don’t guarantee the recovery or confidentiality of stolen data, but do encourage cyber attacks to proliferate. Organisations in receipt of ransom demands are left to ponder several competing considerations… · Paying a ransom could potentially contravene sanctions (such as the one imposed on Aleksandr Ermakov, the individual responsible for the 2022 Medibank data breach) or anti-money laundering laws. · Company Directors fulfilling the duty of care to act in the best interests of their organisation will need to balance the risks of payment - commercial damage, incentive to re-target, uncertainty of data recovery – against the risks of not paying - loss of systems data, reputational damage, third party claims, lost customers and business disruption. If a ransom payment is made, then the new mandatory reporting obligation will be in addition to other applicable reporting requirements an organisation is subject to. These could include the Privacy Act 1988 , the SOCI Act , and continuous disclosure obligations under the ASX Listing Rules and CPS 234. In fact, it’s important that Cyber Incident Response plans developed by organisations specifically address these overlapping requirements, taking into account the various regulators and timeframes of each. Be aware that, for any entities regulated under the SOCI Act , it’s also conceivable that the Government could use its directions power to direct an entity to pay - or not pay - a ransom. An organisation which fails to comply with mandatory ransom reporting will incur a civil penalty of 60 penalty units (currently A$93,900). Voluntary reporting regime A new National Cyber Security Coordinator (NCSC) is being established under the Cyber Security Act to lead a whole-of-government response to significant cyber security incidents. The Act provides a framework for the voluntary disclosure of information by any organisation operating in Australia, or any responsible entity under the SOCI Act , to the NCSC relating to cyber security incidents. However, it imposes various limitations on how the NCSC may further use and disclose information voluntarily provided by entities, depending on the significance of the incident. Non-significant cyber security incidents: Information can be used for limited purposes such as directing the reporting entity to assistance services, coordinating a government response, and informing Ministers. Significant cyber security incidents: Information can be used for broader ‘Permitted Cyber Security Purposes’. These include preventing or mitigating risks to critical infrastructure or national security, and supporting intelligence or enforcement agencies. A cyber security incident is deemed “significant” if: there is a material risk that the incident has seriously prejudiced, is seriously prejudicing or could reasonably be expected to prejudice the social or economic stability of Australia or its people, the defence of Australia or national security; or the incident is, or could reasonably be expected to be, of serious concern to the Australian people. Information voluntarily provided by organisations to the NCSC is subject to limited use protections similar to those which apply to information disclosed as part of a ransomware payment report. The new voluntary reporting regime and corresponding limited use protection has come into immediate effect. Limited use protection The Cyber Security Act outlines how businesses should work with the NCSC and other government agencies to obtain assistance and guidance when responding to cyber incidents. It also provides businesses with certain limited use protections when collaborating with the government’s cyber security agencies - a legislative foundation for the CISA Traffic Light Protocol government agencies have recently offered when assisting organisations. Such protections were requested by business lobby groups. They provided feedback during the public consultation period that disclosing information about a data breach could risk exposing an organisation to further regulatory or enforcement action, adverse publicity and litigation. Further, if disclosing a cyber incident was determined to be against an organisation’s best interests, its directors could potentially be in breach of their duties in approving the disclosure. That could in turn expose directors to enforcement action from ASIC. Counterweighing these concerns, the Government believes that sharing information on current threats and incidents can help other organisations avoid similar incidents. In balancing these competing interests, the Cyber Security Act limits the purposes for which information contained in a ransomware payment report or voluntarily report provided to the NCSC can be used or disclosed. The NCSC (and any Government agency it coordinates with) cannot record, use or disclose the information provided for the purposes of investigating or enforcing or assisting in the investigation or enforcement of any contravention of a Commonwealth, State or Territory law. An important exemption from the limited use protections are that crimes and breaches of the limited use protections created by the Act. In this way, the protections stop short of being a full “safe harbour”. Information provided under these protections isn’t admissible in evidence against the disclosing entity, including criminal, civil penalty and civil proceedings (including a breach of the common law). And the provision of information to the NSCS does not affect any claim of legal professional privilege over the information contained in that information. These limited use protections will be of value to organisations disclosing information to the Government about cyber incidents. However, directors should bear in mind the notable gaps in the protection they provide. For example: Information provided can’t be used or disclosed for the purposes of investigating or enforcing any contravention by the reporting entity of another law (whether federal, state or territory), other than a law that imposes a penalty or sanction for a criminal offence. This means that if the ransomware report indicates that a payment was made in breach of relevant sanctions laws, then the limited use protection will not prevent the use of the report in a subsequent investigation or enforcement action. While information provided to the NCSC cannot be obtained from the NSCS by regulators or government agencies, the protection offered under this Act does not prevent regulators from obtaining the underlying information through other means, including via regulatory investigatory powers or where provided under other mandatory reporting regimes, such as those in the Privacy Act 1988 , the SOCI Act, the Telecommunications Act 1997 and the ASX Listing Rules continuous disclosure obligations. So, cyber incident notifications provided to the ACSC under the SOCI Act are not captured by the limited use protection, even if that information is also voluntarily provided to the NCSC or detailed in a mandatory ransomware report. A similar limited use protection has been introduced via the Intelligence Services and Other Legislation Amendment (Cyber Security) Act 2024 for cyber incident information voluntarily shared with the ASD. Other Inclusions in the Legislation This article has focused on developments within the new Cyber Security legislative reforms which will most impact companies and organisations. However, in the interests of completeness, here is a brief overview of other key developments covered in the legislation: Mandated Security Standards for Internet of Things (IOT) Devices. These standards will be detailed in legislative rules, with suppliers required to provide a statement of compliance for devices supplied to the Australian market. New Cyber Incident Review Board. This independent advisory body will be empowered to conduct no-fault, post-incident reviews of significant cyber security incidents and provide recommendations and information to both the private and public sector. It will have the power to compel entities to provide information about significant cyber security incidents. Critical Infrastructure definition expanded. Data storage systems which hold business critical data have been added to the definition of critical infrastructure assets. This closes a gap in the regulations which became apparent in the aftermath of the Optus and Medibank data breaches. Expanded Incident Response Powers. The Government will now have the power to direct an entity to take, or not take a specific action, in the event of a cyber incident affecting critical infrastructure. Security and incident notification obligations moved from the Telecommunications Act 1997 to the SOCI Act , consolidating the cyber obligations of telecommunication carriers and carriage service providers under a single piece of legislation. What Organisations Should Do Cyber security response plans should now be reassessed and upgraded to ensure they align to the new mandatory ransomware reporting requirements. Playbooks and procedures should take account of how an organisation plans to engage with cyber security authorities, bearing in mind the extent - and limitations - of the defined limited use protections. Focus on preventing cyber incidents - not just responding to them . 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 your data. Advanced Threat Protection and Adaptive Loss Prevention add a further layer of defence. SFT Threat Protection facilitates safe collaboration with external parties, helping to prevent malware from entering an organisation, and reducing the risk of employees losing or mishandling sensitive data. Finally, organisations should seek professional legal counsel in determining and responding to their obligations and responsibilities under the new Cyber Security legislative reforms. The information provided in this article has been general in nature, and the interpretations and advice outlined above should not be interpreted as professional legal advice. Previous Next

< News MediSecure hack Australia’s worst so far 19 July 2024 eScripts provider MediSecure has revealed that 12.9M Australians had their data stolen in a hack earlier this year, making it one of the largest cyber breaches in Australian history. MediSecure, which facilitates electronic prescriptions and dispensing, confirmed in May it was the victim of a ransomware attack, following an earlier theft of data which continued until November 2023. The company went into voluntary administration in June after the federal government ruled out a financial bailout. Sensitive Patient Data Lost In a statement released late Thursday afternoon, MediSecure gave details about the kinds of data stolen, including full names, phone numbers, dates of birth, home addresses, Medicare numbers, and Medicare card expiry dates. The 6.5 terabytes of data also included some sensitive health information, such as which medications people were prescribed, the name of the drug, dosage, the reason for their prescription, and instructions for taking the medication. Inadequate Protection MediSecure said it was unable to identify specific impacted individuals “due to the complexity of the data set" and that doing so would have come at a "substantial cost that MediSecure was not in a financial position to meet". A tiny sample of the data was published on a dark web forum following the hack, and the larger data set was listed as being for sale, for $50,000. It's not clear whether the data was sold, but it's considered likely. Vigilance Urged Cyber security experts have urged Australians to remain vigilant for signs of fraud being committed using their medical data. Said one: "If contacted by someone claiming to be a medical or other service provider, including financial service provider, seeking personal, payment or banking information, you should hang up and call back on a phone number you have sourced independently." Avoiding becoming the Next MediSecure Now in liquidation, MediSecure is an example of how not to protect the sensitive customer data entrusted to your organisation. One of your best defences against hackers is to centrally control the flow of data into and out of your organisation. Managed File Transfer (MFT) software does that for you. But MFT does more than just provide centralised control. It also offers encryption, efficiency boosts and auditing capabilities. Using enhanced security protocols, it ensures data privacy during transmission and storage. And it also provides detailed audit-ready logs which detail which data has been accessed and by who. Expert Local Advice At Generic Systems Australia , we’re the Asia-Pacific’s experts on the world’s #1 MFT, GoAnywhere . If you’d like an obligation-free discussion about how we could help you keep your organisation safe from cyber thieves, please feel welcome to get in touch . Attribution: This article was largely sourced from Australia’s ABC News service Previous Next

< News How Managed File Transfer Helps You Meet Australian Compliance Regimes 26 Aug 2026 If you work in risk, security, or IT in an Australian regulated industry, the last three years have rewritten your job description. Four regulatory regimes - two from APRA, one covering critical infrastructure, and a substantially toughened Privacy Act - now converge on the same uncomfortable question: Can you prove you control your data every time it moves? Not where it sits. Where it  moves  - between systems, between business units, and especially to and from third parties. File #000000transfer is where sensitive data leaves your perimeter, and it's exactly where regulators, boards, and attackers are now focusing their attention. Here's a plain language look at what each regime asks of you, and how a managed file transfer (MFT) platform like Fortra's GoAnywhere MFT helps you meet those obligations in practice. CPS 234: Information security with board accountability What it is:  APRA's Prudential Standard CPS 234 applies to banks, insurers, and superannuation trustees. It requires regulated entities to maintain information security capability commensurate with their threats, implement controls to protect information assets (including those managed by third parties), systematically test those controls, and notify APRA of material information security incidents within 72 hours. Critically, accountability sits with the board - "we outsourced it" is not a defense. How GoAnywhere MFT helps: CPS 234 is fundamentally about demonstrable controls over information assets. GoAnywhere centralises what is often the least-controlled activity in an enterprise - ad hoc file movement - into a single governed platform with AES-256 encryption at rest, secure protocols (SFTP, FTPS, HTTPS, AS2) in transit, and a FIPS 140-2 validated cryptographic module. Role-based administration, granular folder-level permissions, and integration with Active Directory, SAML SSO, and multi-factor authentication mean access to sensitive data maps to defined roles rather than shared credentials. And when APRA or your auditors ask for evidence, complete audit trails of every user event and file movement - exportable to your SIEM via syslog - turn "we believe our controls work" into "here is the record." CPS 230: Operational resilience and third-party risk What it is:   CPS 230, in force since 1 July 2025, is APRA's operational risk management standard. It requires regulated entities to identify their critical operations, set tolerance levels for disruption, and - significantly - manage risks arising from service providers with the same rigour as internal operations. If a material service provider fails, APRA expects you to have seen it coming and planned for it. How GoAnywhere MFT helps:  Data exchange with counterparties, bureaus, administrators, and processors is one of the most common dependencies underpinning critical operations - and one of the least visible. GoAnywhere gives you a single point of visibility and control over every third-party data flow: automated workflows replace fragile scripts and manual FTP, transfer monitoring and alerting surface failures before they become disruptions, and detailed reporting shows exactly which counterparties exchange what data, when, and how. That inventory of data flows is precisely what CPS 230's service-provider management and business-continuity requirements assume you have. The SOCI Act and CIRMP: Critical infrastructure obligations What it is:   The Security of Critical Infrastructure Act (SOCI Act) applies to owners and operators of critical infrastructure assets across eleven sectors - energy, water, healthcare, transport, communications, financial services, data storage, and more. Its Critical Infrastructure Risk Management Program (CIRMP) rules require responsible entities to establish and maintain a documented program addressing cyber and information security hazards (benchmarked against a recognised framework such as the Essential Eight, ISO 27001, or NIST CSF), report cyber incidents to the Australian Cyber Security Centre within tight timeframes, and have the board attest annually to the program. Where GoAnywhere helps:  A CIRMP has to show how you mitigate cyber hazards to systems that matter - and file transfer infrastructure is squarely in scope, as the industry's recent history of attacks on transfer systems has demonstrated. GoAnywhere supports the control frameworks CIRMPs are benchmarked against: network segmentation via its DMZ gateway (no inbound ports or credentials stored in the DMZ), IP allow-listing and automated brute-force blocking, restriction of administrative privileges through role-based access, and multi-factor authentication. Its centralised logging and reporting also give you the forensic record you need to meet mandatory incident-reporting timeframes with facts rather than guesses. The reformed Privacy Act: Higher stakes for personal information What it is:  Australia's Privacy Act has been substantially strengthened. Maximum penalties for serious interferences with privacy now reach $50 million or more for companies. The Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024 introduced a statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy (live since June 2025) - meaning individuals can now sue directly - alongside new OAIC enforcement powers and criminal penalties for doxxing. Further reform tranches are expected. Underpinning it all, APP 11 requires organisations to take reasonable steps to protect personal information, and the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme requires assessment and notification of eligible breaches. Where GoAnywhere helps:   "Reasonable steps" is a moving standard, and regulators have made clear that sending personal information by unencrypted email, consumer file-sharing tools, or legacy FTP no longer qualifies. GoAnywhere replaces those habits with encrypted, policy-controlled transfer and secure ad hoc file sharing for the human-to-human exchanges that policy documents always miss. Automatic retention and secure-deletion workflows help you avoid holding personal information longer than needed - the single biggest amplifier of breach impact. And if the worst happens, granular audit trails let you determine quickly  whose  data was affected and  what  was actually taken, which is the difference between a precise, defensible notification and a worst-case public disclosure. The honest conversation: platform security No serious discussion of file transfer in 2026 should ignore that MFT platforms across the industry - GoAnywhere included - have been targeted by sophisticated threat actors in recent years. That's exactly why deployment discipline matters: current patched versions, the DMZ gateway architecture, admin interfaces off the public internet, and MFA enforced. A well-deployed, well-maintained MFT platform with full audit visibility remains categorically safer than the alternative most organisations are actually running - scattered scripts, open FTP, and personal file-sharing accounts that no one monitors and no one patches. The bottom line CPS 234, CPS 230, the SOCI CIRMP rules, and the reformed Privacy Act differ in scope and language, but they converge on the same expectations: know where your sensitive data goes, control who can move it, encrypt it on the way, keep evidence, and be able to answer for it - to APRA, to the ACSC, to the OAIC, and to your board. No software product makes you compliant on its own - compliance is a program, not a purchase. But a centralised MFT platform turns the hardest part of that program - governing data in motion - from hundreds of invisible, unmanaged flows into one controlled, auditable system. Here to help At Generic Systems Australia we have many years of experience helping Australian organisations install and configure the world’s leading MFT. We’re standing by here in your time zone, ready to help you do the same. If you'd like to see how your current file transfer landscape stacks up against these four regimes, I'm happy to walk through it. The gap analysis is usually eye-opening - and it's a far better time to look now than after an incident or an audit finding. This article is general information, not legal or compliance advice. Always have an appropriately-qualified subject matter expert assess your obligations against your own regulatory context. Previous Next

< News Summer Software Sales 10 Dec 2024 It's December, and the thoughts of many in business will no doubt be turning to closing out the year ahead of well-deserved holidays. But did you know this can also be a great time to negotiate a sweet summer deal on enterprise software…? Much of the world's enterprise software is sold by US-based companies, who follow a calendar accounting year. December is the final month for them to achieve their full-year sales targets, stretch bonuses, etc. So: strike while the iron - and season - is hot! Use your negotiating advantage to squeeze a special deal on that new software solution you've been eyeing. Of course, if that solution happens to be GoAnywhere MFT - the world's leading Managed File Transfer solution - then reach out to me, and we can apply the summer squeeze together! 😉 #MFT #SFTP #managedfiletransfer #goanywhere #enterprisesolution Previous Next

< News GenAI Cyber Attacks on the Rise: Gartner 30 Sept 2025 Attacks using Generative AI (“GenAI”) for phishing, deepfakes and social engineering have become mainstream, and attacks on GenAI application infrastructure and prompt-based manipulations are emerging. These are among the troubling findings of a recent survey of cyber security leaders by Gartner, the technology insights company. GenAI is a form of artificial intelligence designed to create original content—such as text, images, music, video, or code—based on patterns it learns from existing data. Unlike traditional AI which classifies or predicts, GenAI generates new data that mimics human creativity. Rise of the Machines 62% of organisations experienced a deepfake attack involving social engineering or exploiting automated processes. These attacks included: deepfake videos used against automated face biometrics or identity verification (29%); deepfake audio clips used against automated voice biometrics (32%); social engineering with deepfake during video calls with an employee (36%); and social engineering with deepfake during audio calls with an employee (44%). In addition, 29% of cybersecurity leaders reported that their organisations had experienced an attack on enterprise GenAI infrastructure in the last 12 months. 32% said they experienced an attack on AI applications that leveraged the application prompt during the last 12 months. Gartner said that chatbot assistants are vulnerable to a variety of adversarial prompting techniques, such as attackers generating prompts to manipulate large language models (LLMs) or multimodal models into generating biased or malicious output. Emerging Threats Speaking at a Gartner Security and Risk Management Summit in London, Akif Khan, Gartner’s specialist VP in identity and access management, said: “As adoption accelerates, attacks leveraging GenAI for phishing, deepfakes and social engineering have become mainstream, while other threats — such as attacks on GenAI application infrastructure and prompt-based manipulations — are emerging and gaining traction.” While 67% of cybersecurity leaders said emerging GenAI risks demand significant changes to existing cybersecurity approaches, Gartner said a more balanced strategy is warranted. “Rather than making sweeping changes or isolated investments, organisations should strengthen core controls and implement targeted measures for each new risk category,” Khan said. MFT vs GenAI One such core control is a Managed File Transfer (MFT) solution, such as GoAnywhere MFT . It should be among an organisation’s first lines of defence. Managed File Transfer (MFT) solutions play a critical role in defending organisations against deepfake phishing and social engineering by enforcing secure, authenticated channels for data exchange. Unlike ad hoc file sharing methods that can be easily exploited, MFT platforms integrate multi-factor authentication (MFA), encryption, and access controls to ensure that only verified users can initiate or receive transfers. This mitigates the risk of attackers impersonating trusted individuals using deepfake audio or video to trick employees into sharing sensitive files. Additionally, robust MFT systems include audit trails and automated alerts which help security teams detect anomalous behaviour — such as unusual file requests or access patterns — that may indicate social engineering attempts. By centralising and securing file movement, MFT reduces the attack surface and strengthens organisational resilience against increasingly sophisticated deception tactics. Local Expertise Available At Generic Systems Australia we’re Australia’s and NZ’s experts in deploying Managed File Transfer solutions. We’ve assisted businesses of all sizes to protect their customer data and secure their file transfers, while keeping their operations running smoothly. If you’d like to discuss how we can help you, please feel welcome to contact me . I’m always happy to have an obligation-free chat and explain how simply we can help you maintain your customers’ trust. Previous Next

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< News What to Look for in an MFT Solution 14 Oct 2026 Most businesses have by now realised their need to improve their cyber security and operational efficiency by investing in a Managed File Transfer (MFT) solution. A growing array of software vendors are promoting their various solutions, eager to attract your business. However, what features and benefits should you look for in an MFT solution? A modern MFT platform is no longer just a mechanism for moving files from point A to point B. It has become a core component of an organisation’s security posture, automation strategy, and operational resilience. Choosing the right platform means understanding the capabilities that genuinely reduce risk, simplify operations, and support long‑term scalability. Security-first architecture The most important requirement is a security‑first design. MFT sits at the centre of sensitive data flows, partner integrations, and automated business processes. Look for platforms that provide strong encryption (in transit and at rest), hardened protocols, secure authentication, and built‑in governance controls. Just as importantly, evaluate how quickly the vendor patches vulnerabilities. A solution that requires disruptive upgrades or manual workarounds to stay secure will create operational drag and increase exposure. Operational visibility and auditability Many organisations underestimate how critical visibility is until an incident occurs. An effective MFT solution should offer clear, human‑readable audit trails, dashboards that surface meaningful activity, and tools that help teams quickly identify anomalies. Raw logs alone are not enough. You want a platform that reduces noise, highlights genuine risks, and supports rapid investigation without requiring deep product expertise. Automation that scales File transfer volumes continue to grow, and manual oversight simply cannot keep pace. The right MFT platform should support end‑to‑end automation, including workflow orchestration, event triggers, API integrations, and policy‑driven controls. Automation should reduce repetitive tasks, suppress low‑value alerts, and ensure that teams spend their time on real risk rather than routine noise. Flexible deployment and patching models Modern IT environments demand flexibility. Whether you operate on‑premises, in the cloud, or in hybrid environments, your MFT solution should adapt without friction. Look for deployment models that support containerisation, cloud-native architectures, and seamless updates. If patching requires downtime, complex coordination, or risky upgrades, teams will inevitably delay updates, creating avoidable vulnerabilities. Resilience and continuity MFT is mission‑critical. Were it to fail, business processes would stall. Prioritise platforms that offer high availability, clustering, load balancing, and disaster recovery options. Resilience is not just about uptime… it’s about ensuring transfers continue even when infrastructure, networks, or external systems experience disruption. Usability and long-term maintainability A secure platform is only effective if teams can operate it confidently. Evaluate the user experience, administrative tooling, documentation quality, and the vendor’s support model. MFT should simplify operations, not add complexity. The best solutions make hardening, monitoring, and maintenance practical and sustainable over time. Transparent Pricing MFT generally makes for a very strong investment case, usually paying for itself in less than year. However, some introductory deals offered by some vendors – particularly those based on volume of file transfers – can prove to be a costly money sink. The initial sticker price may seem appealing; however, your payments will escalate quickly as your usage increases and your MFT footprint grows. An alternative - Server/Node pricing - doesn't punish you add more workload and users over time. The Best MFT GoAnywhere MFT stands out as the strongest choice for organisations that need both security and operational efficiency, delivering a genuinely unified, enterprise‑grade approach to file transfer. Unlike other tools that bolt features together over time, GoAnywhere is purpose‑built around a hardened security architecture, offering end‑to‑end encryption, granular role‑based access controls, secure protocols, and comprehensive auditing that gives IT teams full visibility into every transfer. Its automation engine is one of the most mature in the market, allowing businesses to replace manual processes with reliable, policy‑driven automation that scales effortlessly as volumes grow. GoAnywhere also excels in deployment flexibility - supporting on-premises, cloud, hybrid, and containerised environments - so organisations can modernise at their own pace without compromising security or uptime. Add to that its high‑availability options, intuitive interface, strong vendor support, and proven track record across regulated industries, and it becomes clear why independent experts time and again find GoAnywhere to be the most complete, secure, and operationally efficient MFT solution available. The bottom line Choosing an MFT solution is no longer a checkbox exercise. It’s a strategic decision that affects security, efficiency, and operational confidence. By prioritising security-first design, visibility, automation, flexible deployment, resilience, and usability, IT teams can select a platform that not only meets today’s requirements but is defensible against tomorrow’s threats. Your local experts At Generic Systems Australia , we have many years of experience helping Australian and New Zealand organisations deploy MFT solutions. So much so, that we’ve become one of Fortra’s top ten MFT partners globally. I can help you navigate your choice of MFT solution. If you’d like an obligation-free chat, please let me know and I’ll be more than happy to spend some time discussing how you can select an MFT configuration best-suited to your organisation’s specific needs. Previous Next

< News Legacy Tech Terror - a TRUE Horror Story 16 Oct 2026 An anecdote shared with me by a local business owner dramatically demonstrated the danger of relying on old-fashioned file transfer scripts within your organisation. "It began as a day like any other..." One day, a staff member accidentally deleted a customer’s data directory. It was a simple error, and one that went unnoticed for a time. However, it was an error with unexpectedly dire consequences. Late in the day, as they had done faithfully for many years beforehand, the business's legacy file transfer scripts ran on their usual schedule. It was routine, mundane, normal. The IT team paid no attention to it. They'd never needed to. It just worked. Or so it seemed... The Perils of PII One of the legacy scripts was responsible for copying customers’ Personally Identifiable Information (PII) between systems. PII – personal details such as name, address, phone number, date of birth, bank details etc – is the most protected kind of consumer information under Australian law. Businesses which mishandle it expose themselves to penalties potentially as high as $50M. On the day in question, this legacy script began copying customer PII between systems. But when it tried to copy one customers PII to the deleted data directory, it couldn't. The destination directory was missing. So the script copied the customer’s PII to a different customer’s directory. This meant the customer’s PII was now visible to and accessible by the wrong customer - a clear breach of Australia’s Privacy Act. Disaster-Proof File Transfers Now, GoAnywhere MFT – the world’s leading Managed File Transfer (MFT) solution – would have prevented this error from occurring. It tightly controls where files are transferred from and to, with high levels of authentication and encryption. GoAnywhere remains vigilant. If it detects anomalies in its authorised file transfers, it doesn’t proceed. Instead, it sends an immediate alert to an authorised employee so that the issue can be addressed – before any data is lost or privacy laws broken. In fact, there are many more reasons why you should replace file transfer scripts with the world’s leading MFT… No Safe Scripts Scripts aren’t secure. For example, data sent via FTP is transferred “in the clear” – an easy target for external hackers, or curious employees and vendors. Worse, user credentials aren’t encrypted, putting your entire system at risk. Scripts lack advanced features. For example, automating file transfers with FTP requires adding a second solution, a time-consuming and complex prospect. It’s also difficult to build in re-try features, and lock down how users interact with sensitive data. Scripts don’t play well with new systems. For example, cloud-based computing environments require file transfers to be integrated with cloud-based solutions, and platforms such as Azure and AWS. Scripts are time-consuming. Developing, maintaining, and troubleshooting scripts takes time, distracting valuable support staff from more important things. And if your support staff aren’t available when a script fails, it can bottleneck your organisation’s entire workflow. The Rescue Mission So, you're probably wondering: what happened to the business who accidentally exposed their customer’s PII? Fortunately for them, a kindly customer spotted that they were seeing another customer’s PII. So the business scrambled to quickly address the problem. They re-created the necessary customer directories and worked through the night to manually move their customer’s data back where it belonged. Whew! However, it’s what they did next that made the biggest difference. Determined to prevent the possibility of any such error ever recurring, the business immediately conducted a comparison of Managed File Transfer solutions. They selected GoAnywhere, the industry’s leading Managed File Transfer – and became a Generic Systems Australia customer. Don't Become a PII Horror Story! If you’d like to learn more about how GoAnywhere MFT could put guardrails around your business’s handling of PII, please feel welcome to get in touch with me . I’m always happy to have an obligation-free discussion or provide a quick and easy proof of concept. At Generic Systems Australia we’re your local experts in MFT solutions. Previous Next

< News Is It Time Your Company Upgraded from Ad-Hoc File Sharing? 18 Mar 2025 The Global File Sharing market is booming . Uptake of services such as Dropbox, Google Drive, Box, Microsoft OneDrive, Citrix ShareFile, Egnyte, Zoho Docs, IBM FileNet, SharePoint, Adobe Document Cloud, M-Files, Accellion, Syncplicity, SugarSync, WeTransfer has never been stronger. These "ad-hoc" file-sharing applications are certainly popular. However, are companies that permit their proliferation unwittingly taking risks with their data and foregoing productivity gains? Picking Up Where Ad-Hoc Drops Off Managed File Transfer (MFT) generally outperforms ad-hoc file sharing services due to its enhanced security, automation, and centralised management capabilities. These additional capabilities are crucial for handling sensitive data and ensuring compliance with industry standards. Here's a breakdown of why MFT may be the better solution for your company… Enhanced Security MFT solutions offer robust encryption, secure protocols (like SFTP, FTPS), and robust auditing capabilities, ensuring data confidentiality and integrity. Ad-hoc services, while offering some security features, may lack the comprehensive security controls needed for enterprise-level data protection. Automation and Efficiency MFT platforms automate file transfers, reduce manual errors, and streamline workflows, improving efficiency and reducing IT overhead. Ad-hoc services require more manual intervention and can be less efficient for large-scale or complex file transfers. Centralised Management MFT provides centralised control and visibility over file transfers, allowing IT teams to manage access, monitor activities, and enforce policies. Ad-hoc services often lack this level of control, making it difficult to manage and audit data transfers. Compliance and Auditing MFT solutions facilitate compliance with industry regulations and standards by providing comprehensive audit trails and reporting capabilities. Ad-hoc services may not offer the same level of auditability, making compliance more challenging. Scalability and Reliability MFT platforms are designed to handle large volumes of data and complex transfer scenarios, ensuring scalability and reliability. Ad-hoc services may struggle to handle large files or complex transfers, potentially leading to delays or failures. Free Demonstration? At Generic Systems Australia , we’re your local experts in secure managed file transfer. We have decades of experience helping local companies like yours embrace and leverage MFT’s capabilities and advantages. If you’d like to see first-hand how MFT can keep your data safe and boost your team’s productivity, please feel welcome to get in touch . We can have an obligation-free chat, and I can even arrange a free Proof of Concept for your organisation. Previous Next

< News Asia-Pacific orgs are on Cybercrime Frontline 12 July 2024 The Asia-Pacific region is the frontline in the fight against cybercriminals. A survey conducted by security firm Kiteworks has found that 72% of organisations in our region experienced four or more cybersecurity incidents in the past year - 20% more than the global average. Data also shows that Asia-Pacific organisations also exchange sensitive content with the highest number of third parties. This could be contributing to the higher-than-average cyberattacks. One of your best defences against hackers is to centrally control the flow of data into and out of your organisation. Managed File Transfer (MFT) software does that for you. At Generic Systems Australia , we’re the Asia-Pacific’s experts on the world’s #1 MFT, GoAnywhere . Let me know if you’d like an obligation-free discussion about how we could help you keep your organisation safe from the cyber crimewave. #MFT #managedfiletransfer #securefiletransfer #sft #cybersecurity #cybercrime Previous Next