Thoughts, news and tips

At over twenty years old, SSH can be considered something of an old man in IT - given the pace of change. It's not often that the old ways are best in IT, but SSH is one of those rare pillars of consistency, providing security in a file transfer world where security threats, data exfiltration and spoofing are commonplace. So how has it remained so relevant?

When it comes to Managed File Transfer (MFT), the fundamental questions stay the same. Questions around authentication, certificates, firewalls, encryption, the list goes on and on! We are, however, starting to see a shift in some of the enquiries we are receiving in the technical department here at Pro2col. A cautious customer is emerging.

If you say 'FTP' to anyone in tech, the first two applications that come to mind are FileZilla and WinSCP. FileZilla has been around for 22 years and is a staple of any tech administrator's arsenal. However, in a world where there is a cyber-attack every 39 seconds (according to Cobalt labs), can we continue to take the risk on applications we think of as “Old Faithful”?

Who are you? Are you allowed to be here? And, what are your intentions? – it’s an odd way to begin an interaction and seems rather counterproductive to all things human, but this model of “never trust, always verify” has overstayed the normal length of time for a buzz term giving it legitimacy.

Workflow automation refers to methods (and systems) that streamline the movement of tasks, documents, and data within work processes by automating them to fit with organisational processes and policies. This blog looks at five advanced workflow automation examples that Pro2col have recently delivered to enterprise customers.

I’m sure that just like me, you have known technicians who have come up with often ingenious ways to address the day-to-day business challenges that we all encounter. Whilst it’s great to have these people around who can provide a quick solution and support it when needed, it’s far too easy to become dependent upon them...

What does Managed File Transfer look like in 2024? We asked our Pro2col experts and industry leaders to get out their crystal balls and share their predictions for MFT this year...  

In the ever-changing world of IT, we see AI (Artificial Intelligence) being included in many solutions we use every day. MFT (Managed File Transfer) is no exception to this and is an area that could benefit from AI inclusions.

We review Solarwinds Serv-U MFT Server and ask the question is it actually MFT and should it be seen as a leader in the market?

Do you send sensitive documents and files using email? Could you do more to protect those documents and files to ensure their confidentiality? These are just two of the more obvious questions which many an IT administrator and security officer are now asking their organisations, as the world and it's regulators become more focussed and stringent on data protection.

28th February 2023 Pro2col Launch CloudMFT Service for Managed File Transfer in the UK and Europe A cloud hosting solution built by, managed by and supported by MFT experts.

Date & Time Logic for Transferring Log Files with MOVEit Automation

Both solutions provide access to permission defined folders using protocols such as HTTPS, FTP and SFTP. Both have audit trails and the ability to send one-time links, for guest users to be able to download particular files. With so much overlap, what is the difference?

It may be obvious to some that FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is an insecure protocol; and that its continued use for transferring sensitive or personal is inappropriate. Yet, its use for that very purpose still continues according to Rapid7, creating an unnecessary risk.

ITAR requires that both defence materials and related technical data are handled by authorised parties and maintain a high degree of security. Managed file transfer solutions can help by guaranteeing a level of integrity, encryption and auditability during file movement workflows.

Monday's are not usually the favourite day of the week for most. However, on this particular Monday we were able to help a customer with an operational problem which was really causing headaches. High off the endorphins of our success, we thought we would share our work and show you how you can automate the merging of PDF files using MOVEit Automation.

There are few senses of achievement higher than finding a simple solution to a problem which was thought too complex or seemingly impossible, by others. Here at Pro2col, we are often asked to assist our customers in such scenarios, and relish to opportunity to put our thinking caps to the test.

Having worked with file transfer and document automation solutions for a number of years; we have noted a number of common themes or trends which tend to rear their heads over and over again. One such example is disappointing experience of using of Microsoft SharePoint for file and document sharing.

When it comes to old technology lurking around in your network, there is as good a chance as any other that an FTP or SFTP server is part, having been a staple of most IT teams for a very long time.

How to Automate File Transfers with Azure using MOVEit For those of you who use MOVEit Automation to automate the transfer of files between different hosts, you will know that while there are a number of supported hosts from SFTP servers to Amazon

Discover the untapped potential of MOVEit MFT for your business With over eleven years' of technical experience with Progress MOVEit solutions, we quite often are asked about how the solution might be able to solve some of the requirements which are

IBM Sterling is one of those solutions which feels like it has been around since the beginning of the earth and for must customers of the solution, they have been using for just as long. Handling critical file movements in the company network, few want to touch it for fear of severe disruption. However, if being reviewed, would likely be pulled up on a number of shortcomings which once upon a time seemed trivial but today are problematic.

For a protocol with nearly fifty years on the clock, FTP can sometimes be a lot more complicated than most would assume. In particular, there is often a strong misunderstanding of the differences between active and passive FTP sessions, which can lead to confusion around port numbers in use and how the protocol really works. So what are the differences between active and passive FTP; and what are the advantages and disadvantages of using either mode?

If you have worked with file transfer systems for any length of time, you might have heard of or even seen settings available which refer to AS2. Despite this protocol and its predecessor AS1 having existed since the 1990s, very few people know what it is or how it works. In this blog we will take a look at AS2 and what it can be used for.

Today we heard some news which had passed relatively quietly through the usual media outlets, despite it being highly embarrassing for the cloud-based managed file transfer vendor WeTransfer. On the 21st of June 2019, WeTransfer started to send security incident email warnings to their customers. Letting them know that between the 16th and 17th of the same month, some files sent by users of the system had their files sent to the wrong recipient.

So, you have installed MOVEit Automation and have started to create automated workflows for moving files from one location to another. But with that initial requirement now fulfilled, what else can you get out of the solution? This is a question we are answering on an almost weekly basis.

You may have noticed that this is our second blog post on the different configurable modes of FTP, in recent days - after our previous blog on the differences between active and passive FTP. We often write about our experiences at the time and the past 30-days have been no exception, having spoken with and assisted a number of customers through the intricacies of FTP. One such question which keeps coming up is the difference between implicit and explicit FTP - otherwise known as FTPS.