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< News The Emotional Toll of Ransomware Attacks 25 Aug 2025 Sophos’s recent report The State of Ransomware 2025 sheds light on the little-discussed human impacts of cyber attacks within compromised organisations. Sophos polled 3,400 IT and cyber security leaders across 17 countries who had been hit by ransomware in the past year. Aside from the financial and reputational costs to the organisations, Sophos found that the organisation’s IT and cyber security teams suffered negative personal consequences from every attack. Taking the Fall The fallout from a cyber attack was often most severe at the top of the IT team. In one in four cases, the team’s leadership was replaced as a consequence. That might seem “fair” to some. However, as most CISOs will tell you, business investment decisions are frequently made at the Line of Business level. CISO projects and investment requests are considered alongside other business priorities and investments – sometimes, deprioritised and rejected. In those instances, is it reasonable to hold the CISO accountable? As Frank Dickson, group VP for security at IDC, remarked to CSOonline.com : “Some presume that a ransomware attack is the fault of the CISO. The CISO is a leader, but not  the  leader. Breaches are the result of a pattern of decisions of many.” Dickson said that some enterprise business units — even some CEOs and COOs — will sidestep CISOs by deliberately not inviting them to key meetings, out of the fear they will slow down certain business processes. With the growing frequency of cyber attacks, and the considerable business disruption they create, that’s shortsighted and risky. Emotional Toll Sophos’ survey found that the human consequences of a cyber attack were felt well beyond the leadership level. 41% of IT/cybersecurity teams reported increased anxiety or stress about future attacks. 34% said the team felt guilty that the attack was not stopped in time. 40% reported increased pressure from senior leaders - though 31% reported increased recognition. 31% of teams experienced staff absences due to stress/mental health issues related to the attack. The survey responses reveal how a ransomware attack can be a brutal blow — not just to an organisation’s finances and reputation, but to the people responsible for the IT systems. For the IT team, it’s often a high-stakes, high-pressure ordeal. HR & C-Level Support An organisation’s Human Resources team and C-suite need to play a critical role in stabilising the IT team in the aftermath of a ransomware crisis. That begins with providing immediate support: Acknowledging the pressure, and recognising within the organisation the IT team's efforts. Providing flexible work arrangements, such as adjusted hours, remote work options, and time off where feasible. Making psychological first aid and counsellors available. Ensuring clear internal communication, to avoid the stresses of miscommunication and rumours. Longer term, the focus should be on building IT team resilience. Recognising and rewarding the IT team's role in recovery. Conducting cyber security training across departments - not just IT – to reinforce a culture of shared responsibility. Implementing retention strategies to mitigate post-ransomware attack attrition. Prevention: Better than Cure At Generic Systems Australia , we help Australian and New Zealand organisations avoid cyber attacks by making file transfer and email systems smarter and more resilient. Please feel welcome to contact me if we can help you. We’re your local experts in data transfer. Previous Next

< News Survive the Cyber Security Staff Drought 3 Sept 2024 Australian organisations are still struggling to recruit and train sufficient cyber security specialists to keep their valuable data safe. A report by government-funded industry body AustCyber predicted that Australia would need an extra 4800 cyber security workers each year to avoid a significant shortfall by 2030. It warned that the local industry is lagging those of other countries, urging further private sector investment in the area. AustCyber found that 74% of cyber security professionals were being impacted by non-availability of suitably qualified staff. Only 8.8% rated Australia’s cyber security sector as “highly competitive”, while 21% rated the local industry as “not competitive” compared to other global markets. 20% Positions Vacant The Australian Government’s 2023 Skills Priority List shows cyber security roles as among the highest-ranked skills with a national shortage. According to AustCyber, cyber security architects are the most in-demand cyber security role, followed by engineers and analysts. While there were ~51,300 dedicated cyber security workers in Australia last year, a staggering 12,500 jobs had remained vacant. The workforce needs to grow by 66% to reach the total of 85,000 who would be required by 2030. Speaking to The Australian Financial Review earlier this year, the RMIT’s Research Director from the Centre of Cyber Security, Matthew Warren, said: “We cannot run before we walk, and right now the Australian cyber security industry does not have the depth of dedicated, skilled cyber security workers required to strengthen Australia’s security posture against the increasing sophistication, ferocity and prevalence of cyber security threat actors.” AustCyber chief executive Chris Kirk said that cyber security was now a “non-negotiable, impacting every Australian”. Early Education + a Wider Funnel While there’s been a 30% year-on-year growth in the number of people studying cyber security at university, the funnel for future workers needs to be wider for AustCyber’s target to be met. Said Kirk: “We really need to get cyber into the education system quite early, like primary school. And, at the speed of which the industry moves, your skill set can be severely challenged very quickly. So it’s extremely important we upskill and keep globally relevant the professionals in these jobs.” Surviving Staff Shortfalls Organisations struggling to recruit cyber security specialists should consider how automation can augment and relieve the load being carried by their existing cyber security specialists. For example, advanced Managed File Transfer solutions, such as GoAnywhere MFT , can centrally manage and secure file transfers organisation-wide. Recognised for its class-leading features, GoAnywhere frees up your cyber security specialists, working in the background to comprehensively mitigate the risks of storing and moving your data, both within and outside your organisation. Through its centralised control, encryption, and auditing capabilities, GoAnywhere replaces risky traditional approaches and improves productivity. Its versatility, security, ease of use, and budget-friendliness have made it a must-have solution for organisations committed to protecting their information assets. Expert Local Advice On Hand At Generic Systems Australia , we’re Australia’s and the Asia-Pacific region’s experts on Managed File Transfer solutions. If you’d like a no-cost, no-obligation discussion about how we could help you augment your cyber security team’s efforts, please feel welcome to get in touch . Previous Next

< 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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< 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

< News Mid-Q3 Already...?! How’s That IT Roadmap Faring 11 Aug 2025 With 2025 already more than halfway done, how well are your IT deployments shaping up against your start-of-year roadmap? A Gartner survey at the end of last year found that most A/NZ CIOs were planning to invest significantly in improved cyber security in 2025. In fact, 88% of our region’s CIOs and technology executives said they’d invest in heightened cyber security measures, with 82% nominating it as their top investment priority. More Attacks, More Regulation The factors driving that focus certainly haven’t let up in the year to date. That is to say: the government’s push for greater regulation and transparency and the volume and sophistication of cyber attacks haven’t abated. As Gartner VP Brian Ferreira told the 2025 Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo on the Gold Coast: “Organisations face greater scrutiny as they batten down the hatches to avoid becoming the next target or breaching stewardship. This continues to drive significant focus and investment towards cybersecurity and legal compliance into next year.” Executive and board scrutiny of cyber security preparedness hasn’t let up, either. Heightened Focus Gartner’s survey found that ANZ CIOs would have a significantly heightened focus on ensuring compliance and minimising risks (92% - up from 57% last year). That makes perfect sense, with Australia’s regulatory landscape tightening and more stringent laws enacted to increase CIOs’ stewardship obligations. Checkpoint So, as Q4 2025 looms on the horizon: how are your 2025 IT advances panning out vs your 2025 plans? Here at Generic Systems Australia we’re continuing to see many Australian and New Zealand enhancing their core cyber security through class-leading Managed File Transfer solutions. We have many years of experience helping our customers do that, from the initial scoping of legacy data transfer approaches through to zero-cost Proof of Concepts and hassle-free Migration Services. If you’d like a to discuss how your organisation’s cyber security can be boosted by a cost effective Managed File Transfer solution, please feel welcome to contact me. I’m always happy to have an obligation-free discussion. Previous Next

< News Ditch Your File Transfer Scripts 10 Sept 2024 More and more companies across the Asia-Pacific region are realising they have a pressing need to eliminate their use of outdated file transfer scripts. A Key Vulnerability A recent survey found that our region is on the frontline, subject to more cyber attacks than any other. 72% of local organisations experienced four or more cybersecurity incidents in the past year - 20% more than the global average. Manual scripts – often written by employees to reduce the repetitive burden of manually transferring files – are a key vulnerability. Not only are file transfer scripts risky, they’re also inefficient and prone to failure. MFT: safer, more efficient Managed File Transfer (MFT) is a powerful technology which comprehensively addresses the risks and challenges of moving information, both within an organisation, and with external suppliers, partners and customers. It simplifies and secures data transfer by providing centralised control, encryption, enhanced security protocols and auditing. Unsurprising then that more and more IT departments are using MFT to replace their outdated manual file transfer scripts. Reasons to Ditch Scripts Scripts don’t play well with new tech. For example, cloud-based computing environments require file transfers to be integrated with cloud-based solutions, and platforms such as Azure and AWS. Scripts lack advanced features. For example, automating file transfers – say, with FTP - requires you to add a second solution, which is time-consuming and complex. Scripts are also challenged to detect and implement automatic “re-try” features in the event of failure, or prevent employees mishandling sensitive data. Scripts are time consuming. Developing, maintaining, and troubleshooting scripts takes time, distracting valuable IT staff from more important tasks. Worse, if the author of a script isn’t available when it fails, bottlenecks can occur in your workflow. Scripts don’t offer built-in reporting. Logging needs to be manually added to scripts. Accessing those logs – say, when you need to prove audit compliance, or meet other regulatory reporting requirements – is time consuming and difficult, requiring an effective filter and search tools. Scripts aren’t secure. As explained above, scripts don’t offer the security features necessary to keep cyber thieves at bay. User credentials aren’t encrypted, there’s no in-built key management, no access controls, and they’re unlikely to use up-to-date security protocols. Why MFT is Better than Scripts As well as increasing the security of your file transfers, ditching scripts offers your organisation many other compelling advantages. Centralised Control. Instead of using multiple different tools, programs, and scripts to encrypt, send, and automate your file transfers, MFT can enable all of these from a single interface. That significantly streamlines day-to-day operations and reduces wasted tool maintenance time. Automate. No matter the volume of files to be transferred across your business and supply chain, the best MFTs enable your team to spend time focusing on other things. Save Money. Clients are often surprised how many employee-hours they’re spending creating, maintaining and resolving problems with file transfer scripts. These ongoing hidden costs can really mount up. (And that’s without considering the potentially catastrophic cost to your business of a data breach enabled by an insecure script!) Flexible Scalability. The best MFTs scale fluidly – horizontally and vertically - as file transfer loads increase. They make redundant tedious and uncertain processes of buying, deploying and understanding gateways, load balancers and other expensive network devices and hardware. Cloud-friendly MFT tools also exploit new cloud and virtualisation capabilities to scale up quickly to meet demand. They can even be “failed over” to a DR site in the event of an outage. Regulatory Compliance. By logging file transfers and access across your organisation, the best MFTs ensure your compliance with legal requirements, such as data privacy and encryption. Logs are also readily accessible if you’re called on to demonstrate your compliance during an audit or need to conduct forensics after an internal security breach. The Best MFT Independent analysts agree that that GoAnywhere MFT is the industry’s leading Managed File Transfer solution. GoAnywhere not only enables your data to be moved securely - both internally and externally – it also enhances your team’s productivity. Asia-Pacific’s MFT Experts No-one better understands local MFT needs and best practices than Generic Systems Australia. Our local team has decades of experience helping businesses replace outdated and risky scripts with the world’s leading MFT solution, and our Migration Service makes the transition easy. If you’d like a no-cost, no-obligation discussion about how we could help you simply and affordably transition from risky scripts to an advanced MFT solution, please feel welcome to get in touch . Previous Next

< News Boost Employee Productivity via Managed File Transfer 19 Feb 2025 76% of employees report that they spend 1-3 hours a day simply moving data from one place to another, according to research by Zapier. What if you could give your team that time back, to spend on more value-added tasks? You can - with Managed File Transfer (MFT). When Tools Become Time Sinks IT tools are designed to enhance employee collaboration and productivity. However, as businesses grow, they adopt many different IT tools, often with differing file formats. That opens up a black hole of time-wasting as employees are forced to translate and transfer files every time they want to share data across the organisation or with customers or suppliers. GoAnywhere MFT – the world’s leading MFT – automates this task. It gives employees back precious time to focus on more value-added tasks. GoAnywhere translates files to and from a variety of widely-used formats without cumbersome manual scripts. Its comprehensive ETL (Extract, Transform, and Load) features enable data values to be mapped, formatted and modified between source and target files automatically. Even better, GoAnywhere's secure collaboration features make connecting and sharing between employees easier, faster and more secure – even when they’re mobile. It provides an intuitive browser-based web client for performing ad-hoc file transfers, enterprise file sync and sharing via GoDrive, and a handy mobile application for moving files quickly while on-the-go. Protected Productivity In addition to the productivity and efficiency benefits it offers, GoAnywhere MFT protects your organisation’s valuable data at rest, and in transit. Coupled with an Advanced Threat Protection Bundle , it enables organisations to safely collaborate while repelling the efforts of cybercriminals. This automated defense system protects your data in three important ways: 1. Prevents files containing malware from being shared. 2. Blocks sensitive data from being shared. 3. Redacts sensitive information from files before transfer. Time to Tame the Time Sink? If you’d like to discuss how GoAnywhere MFT could help boost your organisation’s productivity and bottom line, please feel welcome to get in touch with us for an obligation-free discussion. 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 The GoAnywhere Customer Who Didn’t Panic 20 Aug 2025 In Douglas Adams’ much-loved work of science-fiction whimsy, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the Babel Fish is a small yellow fish inserted into a person's ear to provide instant translation of any language.  Described by The Guide as “probably the oddest thing in the universe”*, the Babel Fish is a neat (if somewhat slimy) solution to the pervasive galactic challenge of interspecies communication. It reminds me how GoAnywhere MFT once solved a customer’s pressing “payslip-up”. “But the plans were on display…”* Our customer, a leading provider of human services who employs thousands, had installed a new payroll system. This system, like the outdated system it was replacing, produced employee payslips as PDF files. These were subsequently distributed to employees via a separate Human Resources system. Installation, testing and initialisation of the new payroll system had all gone according to plan. Until, that is, the first pay run was performed. “Have you any idea what these strange symbols are?”* In what The Hitchhiker’s Guide may well have cited as “a practical demonstration of the principles of infinite improbability” employees didn’t receive their payslips. It was soon realised that the problem had occurred because the PDF payslips produced by the new payroll system were formatted differently to the PDFs previously produced by the old one. (The old system had output the PDFs as individual PDF files for each employee, compressed into a zip file. The new system output one PDF file for each employee and, further complicating the situation, the new payslips varied in number of pages.) These PDF formatting changes rendered the output from the new payroll system unreadable by the Human Resources system - a problem which had somehow been overlooked during testing. “The consequences of not knowing any of this stuff are particularly terrible”* This failure of inter-systems communication wasn’t just a problem for the employees, who had understandably grown accustomed to keeping tabs on their earnings, but it created a looming compliance problem for the business. Australia’s Fair Work Act is vexingly inflexible when it comes to the timing of providing employees with payslips. (This is in marked contrast to the famously flexible relationship with time enjoyed by The Guide’s author Douglas Adams, particularly as relates to deadlines). Failure to fix the problem quickly would expose the business to financial penalties, legal consequences and potential union action. “Don’t Panic!”* Heeding the single most important piece of advice in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy , our customer didn’t panic. Instead, they called me to ask whether Generic Systems Australia could help solve their predicament. And - thanks to their installed GoAnywhere Managed File Transfer solution – we could! The Babel Fish* Faster than a Vogon invited to a poetry recital**, our Solutions Architect revised the customer’s GoAnywhere automated file transfer process. GoAnywhere was already collecting the PGP-encrypted PDF from the new payroll system via SFTP, decrypting it, and transferring it to the customer’s Human Resources system. He added to that automated transfer process new logic which split the PDF pages, correctly formatting the output and allowing for payslips of varying page lengths. GoAnywhere was, in effect, performing the role of a computerised Babel Fish. And, thanks to GoAnywhere’s easy to use drag-and-drop interface, it took our Solutions Architect less than half a day to set up the workflows. He didn’t even need a towel***. “If you ever need help again…”* There’s no need to go to the ends of the universe**** to get expert help on file transfers and translations. At Generic Systems Australia , we’re Australia and New Zealand’s experts in helping business take advantage of every one of GoAnywhere’s many capabilities. We’ve assisted hundreds of organisations to automate their data flows, making their file transfers resilient, secure and reliable, and boosting their efficiency. If you’d like to discuss how we can boost your organisation’s efficiency, please feel welcome to contact me . I’m always happy to have an obligation-free chat and explain how easily we can transition you from your current approach to a galaxy-leading level of productivity. At Generic Systems Australia, we’re your local experts in data transfer. _______________________________________________________________________________________ * A direct quote from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy . ** In The Guide , Vogon poetry is described as the third worst in the universe, surpassed only by the poetry of the Azgoths of Kria and the late Paula Nancy Millstone Jennings. It's so bad, it's often used as a form of torture, causing physical pain to the listener. *** The Guide describes a towel as the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have - not just useful for practical purposes like warmth, sunbathing, or even as a weapon, but also with significant psychological value. A hitchhiker who knows where their towel is is seen as someone together and capable, as it implies they also possess other essential items. **** The Guide describes Milliways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, as being enclosed in a time bubble and offering a unique floorshow featuring the end of the universe. Previous Next

< News Cyber Security to be Top Investment for 2025: CIOs 17 Sept 2024 Australian and New Zealand CIOs are planning to invest significantly in improved cyber security in 2025, according to a recent survey by analysts Gartner. Some 88% of the region’s CIOs and technology executives said they would invest in heightened cyber security measures. 82% said it would be their top investment priority. More Attacks, More Regulation Gartner attributes this focus to greater government regulation, coupled with some of the largest cyberattacks seen in ANZ so far. Speaking at the 2025 Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo on the Gold Coast, Gartner VP Brian Ferreira said “Organisations face greater scrutiny as they batten down the hatches to avoid becoming the next target or breaching stewardship. This continues to drive significant focus and investment towards cybersecurity and legal compliance into next year.” The uncertain economic climate businesses have operated in recently has increased executive and board scrutiny on technology investments, he said. Gartner’s survey found that increased focus on cyber security will attract investment away from previous ANZ CIO priorities of legacy infrastructure (43% of respondents), augmented reality, virtual reality and immersive technologies (17%) and next-generation compute technology (11%). Heightened Focus Consistent with their focus on cyber security, Gartner’s survey found that ANZ CIOs have a significantly heightened focus on ensuring compliance and minimising risks (92% - up from 57% last year). “As Australian regulatory landscapes continue to evolve, ANZ CIOs are also facing more stringent laws to increase stewardship obligations,” Ferreira said. “It’s incumbent upon CIOs to steer their organisations towards a future marked by digital stewardship, responsible innovation, stringent compliance and active participation in shaping regulatory norms.” Help for ANZ CIOs Generic Systems Australia has many years of experience helping ANZ CIOs and IT teams protect their valuable data with class-leading Managed File Transfer solutions. From the initial scoping of companies’ legacy data transfer approaches, through zero-cost Proof of Concepts and hassle-free Migration Services , we help ANZ companies stay focused on running their business without disruption as we transition them to more secure approaches. If you’d like a to discuss how your organisation’s cyber security can be boosted by a cost effective Managed File Transfer solution, please feel welcome to contact me . I’m always happy to have an obligation-free discussion. At Generic Systems Australia , we’re your local experts in Secure Managed File Transfer. Previous Next