Overview

Choosing a file transfer software might seem like a trivial exercise. Any application capable of delivering files to your intended recipient should fit the bill, right? Well, not all the time. If your company belongs to the healthcare or financial services industry, is publicly traded, or handles credit card information, then there are a couple of security requirements you need to take into consideration.

Although plain File Transfer Protocol (FTP) has been the data transfer solution of choice for several decades, it’s no longer fit for today’s business environments. With so many business processes now involving sensitive data, file transfer workflows are now at risk of various threats. And because plain or standard FTP is inherently plagued with serious vulnerabilities, it’s important to replace it with more secure alternatives. In this post, we’ll talk about how you can take advantage of two secure FTP options and make them even more suitable for transferring sensitive information.

Overview

A lot of people who often send files love FTP. The File Transfer Protocol allows users to transmit volumes of files over the Internet through uncomplicated FTP clients, some of which are already built-in in the two popular operating systems, Windows and Mac OS X. Sadly, this well-loved technology is not very secure. That's why people who craft regulations like PCI DSS are wary of it. They know that an attacker armed with a packet sniffer can easily obtain usernames and passwords just by sniffing an FTP connection.

There are a number of things to consider when setting up the reverse proxy and firewalls in your DMZ. These things are going to have a significant impact on the performance and security not only on your file transfers but for your entire network in general, so you really need to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each set up before deciding how you are going to put everything together. Let's talk about it when you request a free trial.

JSCAPE is pleased to announce the release of AnyClient 4.1.

Guide to HIPAA Compliant File Transfers - Part 1

In this post, we'll be talking about the specific standards that lead to HIPAA compliant file transfers. This is a continuation of another post, so if you haven't read Part I yet, you might want to click that link first.

For some entities in the health care industry, file transfer activities are no longer as simple as before. Measures have to be taken to make sure violations aren't made against HIPAA. FTP services, perhaps the most widely used services for transferring large files over the Internet, now require enhancements to ensure that data considered as electronic protected health information (ePHI) are protected throughout an FTP transfer.

When two little kids want to exchange a secret, a lot of negotiation is necessary: "Promise you won't tell? Cross your heart and hope to die?". When a client and server computer want to exchange secrets, they need to negotiate too: public keys, encryption methods, ports and more. Fortunately, JSCAPE's Secure FTP Factory and server software (such as JSCAPE MFT Server) handle most of the details for you.

Here's some philosophy to go with the Secure FTP Factory library. There are some things in life that you should never do unless you feel completely secure. One of them is withdrawing money from an ATM. You should do this only in a safe, well lit and preferably high traffic environment where you are unlikely to be robbed. Another is uploading or downloading files using plain FTP (File Transfer Protocol).